Turning Slowly
by Peppersister
Summary: Emily Fitch was taken from her bed in the middle of the night, put in a room, and hasn't had contact with anyone for over a month. Until one night, when she heard a knock on the wall...
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note- Hello! I'm not a new writer, nor at all new to Skins fan fiction, but I have never written anything for this site. I had written the premise of this story for a creative writing class. I didn't get the change to expand it, because the class ended. My girlfriend, who is an avid avid reader of stories here, suggested I flip and reverse it into something she could read on here. So...I'm appeasing her mostly, BUT I would by lying if I said I wasn't curious as to how it would be taken. It's very AU, and pretty different. I'd like to know your thoughts and what ever, and if you'd like, I'll most certainly continue it. Consider this a trial run. : )

Skins isn't mine at all, it's just something fun to play around with.

Turning Slowly: Chapter 1

"Afternoon food!" I heard an abrupt voice from a locked door chime out. I set down my book and rose from my position on the bed. Following my every day routine, I walked to the door, and knocked on it three times, alerting the person on the other side of the door I had heard them. Then, as I had every day for the last three months, I backed up to the corner farthest from the door and sat down facing the wall, nose to corner. I positioned myself to sit on my hands and closed my eyes.

Behind me I heard the large metal door unlock and open, the sound of a tray gliding across the floor filled the air. I scrunched my eyes waiting for something more, but praying there wasn't. The door shut with a loud bang.

I sat in tense fear for another couple minutes before turning around and eyeing the tray. A mix of anguished relief flooded me as I spotted my typical meal: two slices of bread with peanut butter, an apple and a protein bar. After so much time, I've passed savoring the food and have resorted to something of a human vacuum. I hoover my food in seconds and down it with my bottle of water. Every meal is the same thing- nothing ever changes around here.

I suppose you're wondering where here is, huh? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure. My name is Emily Fitch and I am 18 years old. I've decided to start recounting my life in a journal because three months, 19 days and what i've guessed to be around 10 hours ago, I was abducted from my bed in the middle of the night.

I had just finished up college and was preparing to travel around Europe for a while. I faintly recall the strange sense someone was following me. My twin sister, Katie, told me to "buck up" and "stop imagining things." I always listened to Katie. Irony, at it's finest.

The day started out normal. I had gone to my part-time job as a grocery clerk early in the day. It was there I got the odd feeling. I remember staring around the grocery store, expecting to meet some weird person's gaze, but there wasn't anyone. After work I had gone to meet Katie.

"_Hey Katie," I had said, after ordering my hot chocolate. Katie sat with her extra foamy latte' that just about made me want to hurl. I couldn't stand coffee, or the smell of it. _

"_You're late," she blurted, not looking pleased. _

"_I'm never late," I said right back. _

"_But you are today."_

_I sighed. Katie could be exhausting at times. _

"_Sorry, I kept double checking things. I sort of feel like someone is following me," I admitted. The look on Katie's face told me I should have just kept quiet. _

"_Someone...is...following you?" Katie asked slowly. _

"_No, I FEEL like someone is following me," I said, exasperated. _

"_Fucks sake Emily. Don't give yourself so much credit, you're not that interesting," Katie said with a snort. I slumped back in my seat. She had a point. _

"_I know, I was just saying." _

"_Well, buck up soldier, no one's following you. Now stop imagining things so we can have a proper coffee date. I NEED to tell you about my date with Andy..." _

_The coffee date had droned on far longer than I would have liked otherwise, but Katie will be Katie. She went off to meet Andy and I went home. _

I should mention home. I used to be normal. My whole family used to be normal. Then my dad accidentally, in his futile attempts to invent a work-out machine, ended up inventing a different sort of cushion for people who have hernia's removed or any other surgeries...down there, which require a sitting pad. Don't ask me how he managed it, but he did. Some big investor discovered him at a convention, and bought it off of him. With a generous contract. Four years and quite a few million dollars later, we were no longer a normal family.

We moved into this massive excuse for a house. I was thrilled because it meant I no longer had to share a room with Katie, but the space was too much. I never saw my family. My dad was always busy, my mum, a newly-dubbed house wife with a house to decorate, was always busy. James was always...well I'm pretty sure he was always lost, but I hardly saw him too. The only person I saw on a frequent basis was my twin, and I think it's because she can't breath unless I'm following her like a little puppy dog.

_That being said, I arrived home that night to hear three TV's blaring through the house. Dad, mum and James, clearly. I walked to my bedroom, pulled out my yoga mat and started to do my nightly routine. I was halfway through when I thought I heard something in my bathroom. I had my own bathroom connected to my room. I had interrupted my movement, to inspect my bathroom top to bottom. When I was fully convinced I was losing it, I finally turned in for bed. _

_The next thing I know, I feel like I had been given a straight IV of tequila. My body was swooshy, my mind even worse. I thought I felt myself being lifted, but I couldn't form a proper thought. However long later, I came to. In a brightly lit, stark white room with nothing but a bed, an empty bookshelf, a toilet and a large sink. That's when the panic set in. _

Seems catastrophic, and trust me, it was. It also seems horrible, but it actually hasn't been entirely horrific.

I've never physically seen my captors. In fact, i've never physically seen anyone the entire time i've been here. I've only been yelled at through this big metal door that is currently separating me from them. Been verbally abused at times. When I first arrived it became quickly apparent what I was to do. The door only opened twice a day, when someone delivered my food. I was instructed I was to sit against the wall and not speak a word. If I did, I was "taught a lesson." I've only spoken once, and the knot I had on my head for days after, was enough to shut me up.

I get fed two times a day, and the food, as noted, is bland as fuck. But, at least I'm getting fed. The bed in the room is not a total loss. I get clothes and any book I request. Other than that weirdness, when it's stripped down to what it really is? It's kidnap.

The most frustrating part of this whole ordeal, i've come to find, is remaining in the dark. I don't know why I was kidnapped. No one will tell me anything, no one will talk to me. I've asked. I've begged the shouting voices on the other side of the thick plaster walls what in the world was going on, but no one responds. I never heard anyone walking outside of my room. I have no idea if anyone is even there. Judging by the window in my room, I'm about three or four floors up from the ground level. I know I'm in a big building. It smells of damp laundry and is constantly muggy.

Once I came too those many days ago, I spent the entire first week freaking out. I stayed in a strange calm for the first 12 hours, giving myself time to figure things out, but then I couldn't figure anything out, and that's when I lost it. It's sort of am embarrassing blur now, but I spent the good chunk of a week slamming my fists against the walls, crying out for my family, or anyone really. It got me nowhere fast. Then I fell into what many may consider a quiet depression. I couldn't move, couldn't eat, couldn't think. And I do think, very possibly, I might have died if it hadn't been for the knocking.

_I had been laying in my bed, staring at the piling trays of food. After about two weeks of trying to wrap my head around my situation, I had given up. I had no idea what day it was, i'd lost count a while back. I also had no clue when I was getting out. IF I was getting out. Logically, or illogically, my tired, worn-out brain had decided to stop eating. I was up to six trays. Three whole days with out eating. The voice from behind the door yells at me every time he comes in and sees a full tray. I had figured out he was a "he" due to his heavy gruffing and constant smell of sweat. This last dinner time, I had been full-on whacked upside my head from my position in the corner. Sitting on my hands. _

_My stomach was begging me to eat, but my will power was stronger. It was something my friends always joked about with me. My quiet resolve. I had a twin sister who was all face and noise, but everyone knew I was the stronger one. Because I had a large ball of pride and power inside of me. I was exercising this ability at the minute. That, and this was the only entertainment I had. _

_I was so bored, I could try to eat my own toe. When I got this bored, in my head I would mentally run through my family members and try to imagine their reactions when my abduction became a reality to them. This helped a little, because it reminded me I was loved. Someone would be looking for me. Hopefully they still were. But that night, those thoughts weren't any comfort._

_I was contemplating another round of sit-ups to exhaust myself into sleep, when I heard a slight tapping noise on the wall. Or rather, I thought I heard a slight tapping noise on the wall. Had I imagined that? Probably. It was probably my bobbing foot, which was causing the bed to hit the wall. Or something. It HAD to be that. I moved myself from my bed onto the floor, and laid on my back. I was into my 7th sit-up when I heard the tapping again. I laid flat on the ground in a matter of seconds, holding my breath. I heard it again. It was then I realized it wasn't tapping, so much as it was a series of taps. Three quick taps and two longer ones. This wasn't me. This wasn't my imagination. _

_I flew up off the floor and pressed my ear against the wall. The tapping started again. I took a deep breath and tapped the rhythm back through the wall. I waited a few more agonizing seconds, but nothing came back. Defeated, I let out a breath and stepped away from the wall. This room was really getting to me. A month of isolation will do that to a..._

_Suddenly the tapping occurred again, but farther down the wall. I followed it and tapped the same rhythm back. This pattern continued until I realized I was at the corner of the room. The corner leading to the wall with the only window in the room. I could open the window about 10 inches, but it was still equipped with large metal bars, blocking any chance of an exit. _

_I briefly wondered if this was a trick. If my captors were fucking with me. I shook all thoughts of that out of my head, as curiosity won in my tired mind. _

_I sat in anticipation, wondering if the tapping would happen again. And where. Then swore I heard tapping on a window. It obviously wasn't my window, but the sound was definite. My eyebrows furred. The doors were thick, but the walls clearly weren't. How had I never heard anything before? I tapped my window in the same fashion. A few seconds later, I heard the window tapping once more, and I decided to open my window, just to see if I could hear better. The windows were a piece of shit, but after a minute I managed to wedge it open enough to stick my head out to meet the bars, blocking my complete exit. _

_I couldn't get my head out far enough to see anything against the wall. I could only see the same scenery I'd seen for the past few weeks. A grey building, a swing set and an empty road across the way. I've only ever seen three cars pass by on it. I waited at the window for a few minutes, tapping on it a few times, waiting on a reaction. I almost gave up, chucking it up to a really mean, food-induced hallucination when I heard a voice. _

"_Hello?" A voice called out, starting me so sharply, I hit my head on the window causing it to come crashing back down. _

"_Fuck me, ow, ow ,OW!" I yelled, quietly, aware it was late in the evening. I stomped my foot a few times, and bit my lip, rubbing my head. I took a few deep breaths, gathered my surroundings, and opened the window again as quick as I could. _

"_Hello?" I called back out tentatively. _

"_Hi," the voice said back. The voice of a girl. "Are you alright?" _

"_Yeah," I said, not really sure what to say. This was the voice of a girl, a young-ish girl, I'm pretty positive. I got a weird grip in my stomach. I'm not alone. I'm not alone and I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. _

"_I can't believe you figured out my tapping," the voice said again, sounding both relieved and surprised. _

"_It wasn't that hard to feed my curiosity around here," I answered back, finally finding my words. _

"_I can imagine." _

"_Can you?" I asked quickly, and rudely. I shut my eyes at my obnoxiousness. Apparently being stuck by yourself in a room for a month causes you to lose your social skills. _

"_Yes," the voice answered back calmly. "You've been stuck in a room for a while, yeah?" _

_My heart stopped. Well, that was blunt. _

"_Erm...yes." _

"_Well, so have I, so I can understand your boredom. Who ever is on the right side of me couldn't figure out the knocking, they just banged back." _

"_There is someone on the other side of your room?" I asked stupidly. I was barely able to register the fact that I wasn't alone in this hell hole. This hell hole I have never seen beyond the four walls of my "cell." I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around the fact that there were several others. _

"_Yes," the girl said quietly, but I could tell she was a little exasperated. _

"_What's your name?" I asked, suddenly feeling the need to know this little morsal of information. Assuming it would help me catch a grip. _

"_I'm Naomi Campbell." _


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed and alerted this story. It sufficed to be enough motivation to encourage me to continue this odd ball little story. Once again, words, thoughts and idea's are much encouraged. But I do understand this isn't everybody's cup of tea. That being said, I think i'll stick with Emily's point of view, as when I originally started this, it kept with one point of view. I do think I might include interludes with Naomi's point of view though, if this story picks up enough. : ) Thanks for reading!**

**Skins isn't mine, it's just fun to play with. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Two**

"_My name is Naomi Campbell," the girl from the other window said. _

"_Hi," I said stupidly. I was still very baffled about this whole situation. _

"_Well, what's yours?" Naomi asked, a tone of annoyance to her voice. Can't say I blame her, my lack of ability to get a grip was getting ridiculous. _

"_Emily, erm, Emily Fitch," I stuttered out. _

"_Hi Emily, how are you?" she asked, plain as day. As if she had crossed me at the market. _

"_I'm...fine..." I drawled out my words, not sure as to how to answer. _

"_So, what are your guesses about this whole situation?" Naomi asked, bluntly, skipping all other formalities. _

With that was the beginning of our very odd friendship. And a perfect example of the Naomi i've come to care and trust for, despite having never met her face to face. She's incredibly blunt. She take's life's punches, rolls them up into a neat little ball, and kicks them off a cliff. They never seem to affect her, if anything, they make her even more blunt. She's never been a bitch to me, but I can sense it about her. She's got a very tough exterior, one that's surrounded by more than the four walls surrounding her every day.

"_I was taken from my home in the middle of the night and stuck in this god forsaken room. I'm fed and given books to read, but other than that, I'm fucking bored. So i've spent a lot of my time trying to figure this out, and i've got nothing," I said, spilling my words out quickly. I shut my mouth just as fast. I didn't know this girl. At all. What was I doing being so abrupt with her? I was never any good with strangers, why was this any different?_

"_So you were taken from your home as well?" Naomi asked. A certain clarity to her voice. Calculation. As if she were a detective questioning me at the station. _

"_Weren't you?" _

"_I think I just told you I was," Naomi said calmly. Her calmness was akin to nails on a chalk board to me. Why was she being so calm? _

"_Sorry," I said, taking a deep breath. Trying in vain not to get annoyed with the first human voice I've had contact with in weeks. _

"_S'alright," she said. Letting it go. _

"_What's your story?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. _

"_Sounds shockingly, or perhaps, boringly similar to yours. Taken from my bed in the middle of the night, put in this room. I'm fed, given random books to read, but I'm fucking bored too," she said, the first hint of emotion hitting her voice. She sounded...sad. Which automatically brought me a millimeter closer to her. She was sad, and I was sad. Sad about our situation. Common ground. _

"_Boredom is a vicious enemy," I said, with out thinking. Naomi laughed a short, curt laugh. _

"_No truer words spoken. I was trying to get the large guy with the woodsman beard to play checkers with me, and I swear he almost walloped me true and proper. So I decided to switch..." _

"_You've seen people?" I interrupted, loudly. I looked around my empty room, as if I had woken someone up with my loud voice. Obviously, I hadn't. The shock in my voice did bounce around the empty room, though. Naomi had seen people? _

"_Yeah, the two guys who deliver our food? Lots of brute, no brains? The big guy with the beard and the shorter looking one. He sort of reminds me of an ugly snake." _

"_Are there pretty snakes?" I asked, randomly. Naomi laughed her odd, short laugh again. Then the more important matter crept back up into my mind. "I don't know who you're talking about." _

"_Hmm, maybe different people deliver your food? That seems odd to me. I've spent a lot of my time listening and i've only ever heard two people walking, and..." _

"_No Naomi, you're misunderstanding me. I haven't seen ANYbody since i've gotten here," I clarified, interrupting her again. _

"_No one?" Naomi asked, more emotion creeping into her voice. This time: confusion. _

"_You're the first voice i've heard since i've gotten here," I admitted softly, feeling the tears spring to my eyes. I hated that. Hated that weakness. If I thought about this situation for too long, I always started crying. Out of frustration. Out of fear. _

"_How do you get your food?" _

"_They make me sit against a corner on my hands. Facing the corner. Then they slide the tray in," I said, my voice cracking. I was getting worked up. I needed to calm myself down._

"_What? Why would they do that?" Naomi asked, and it sounded more like she was asking herself. _

"_Voices have only yelled at me. Once I tried to talk back and they hit me," I said. _

"_They hit you?" Naomi asked, the shock falling into the night air between our windows. _

"_Only once. No, twice now." _

"_What the fuck," Naomi said, and once again, I feel she was saying it to herself. _

"_Do they talk to you?" I asked, hating that my voice wouldn't stop wavering. I was being consumed by an all-consuming jealousy. I'm realizing I might not be alone in this building, but I was certainly alone in this situation. Naomi had seen people, talked to them, while I've been verbally battered and hit on occasion. The unfairness was overwhelming. _

"_We've shared words," Naomi said. _

"_I wonder why they talk to you." _

"_I'm not sure. You've been here around a month, right?" _

"_Give or take a few days, I think i've lost track." _

"_It's been almost exactly a month. I keep a solid track," Naomi confirmed. "I got here before you, because I remember the day you arrived." _

"_You do?" I asked surprised. I felt oddly naked. Naked that someone had listened to me arrive to this "jail," of sorts. _

"_I heard you wake up. Then I heard you start freaking out..." she said, trailing off quietly. My throat tightened up, as I remembered waking up and facing my reality. _

"_Yeah," I offered needing to fill the silence. _

"_Then I heard you stop and I got worried," she said, even quieter than her first statement. _

"_Why?" I asked. Why in the world would she worry. She doesn't even know me. _

"_Because I get the distinct feeling if something happens to you, then something happens to me and anyone else who's here." _

_My body went rigid. What the fuck did that mean? _

"_Excuse me?" _

"_Those guys aren't as smart as they think. I've been asking questions since I've gotten here. Trying to feel out the situation. They've unintentionally slipped some information. For what ever reason we were taken, something went wrong or awry. They've subtly made it clear as long as you're okay, everything is okay." _

_Whoa, okay. That was too much information to process. My bored, tired and irrational brain took that completely the wrong way. _

"_So, you're just checking up on me to make sure I'm still alive?" _

"_What? No, I just..." _

"_You're just talking to me to make sure I'm still acting polite and following protocol so you don't get hurt," I yelled, completely ignoring the fact that I'm yelling out into the dark of the night. Yelling to someone i've never seen. _

"_I don't even know you, Why should I care about you?" she asked calmly. There was no malice or anger to her voice. It was a very irritatingly logical question. _

"_I...I don't know," I said, defeated. "Look, I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll want to talk tomorrow when I've wrapped my head around this." _

"_Night Emily," she said, as I shut my window. _

I laugh now at how ridiculous I was being that night. But in my defense, I hadn't spoken with anyone for a month and after the first time I did, I ended up more confused then I could ever recall. Things weren't adding up. Being a first born virgo, complete type A personality, it frustrated me more than I'd like to admit. I can't even really remember how long it took me to talk to Naomi again. I think it was three days, and that was mostly because every night I sat by the window praying I'd here some knocking. I never did. Eventually I plucked up the courage and knocked on her wall a few days later, once the sun had gone down. Less then a few seconds later, I had gotten a knock back.

"_Hi," I said, sheepishly. _

"_I thought you didn't want to talk to me again," Naomi said openly. This would be another thing I learned about her. She was open, so very open. Not about everything though. _

"_I thought you didn't like me anymore." _

"_Once again, I don't even know you. How can I hate someone I don't know." _

_She presented a good point, although, I doubt i'd ever admit that out loud. _

"_Well, then what's your favorite color?" I asked abruptly. Being sort of a type A personality, I did well with progress. If Naomi wanted to us to get to know each other, we would get to know each other. _

"_Oh...uh, green," she stuttered out. I could tell I had caught her off guard. Oddly enough, this put a smile on my face. _

"_Really? Me too." _

"_They say genius's pick green," she stated, sounding proud. _

"_Do they?" _

"_Yes. You're an odd sort Emily," she said. _

"_Why do you say that?" _

"_When I heard you panic, I thought you might be a particular kind of girl. Now that we've shared some words, i've come to find the opposite," she said, bluntly. _

"_You're quite blunt," I said, speaking what I was thinking. Naomi let out her curt laugh again. _

"_I've been told that on occasion. And you're not as shy as I pegged you to be," she said. _

"_This isn't a normal situation." _

"_This is true. If you think about it, it's kind of odd. We could grow to be friends in here when we may never have spoken outside of this building." _

"_How long do you think we'll be here?" I asked, as if she had all the answers. The question lingered in my head all the time. I woke up with it, and fell asleep with it whirring around my brain. _

"_I'm as much in the dark about that as you are," she said, her voice still completely calm. It was almost like a lullaby, her calmness. It washed me over with a sense that at this minute, things were looking better. I had a voice to talk to. Something to hold onto. _

"_So, we can keep talking?" I asked. _

"_We can keep talking," Naomi assured me. _

We had spent that night, and the many nights following talking about everything and anything. Just talking to keep the persisting silence out. Fighting it with random games and thoughts. It's odd, extremely odd, but it was also more comforting then I could describe. Despite the ever-growing comfort talking to Naomi provided, I couldn't help but wonder when something was going to bust it. It had to. After all, despite our greatest efforts to distract ourselves, we were still victims. Victims of kidnap. Two girls, who were stuck in stark white rooms, locked up tight. Fed twice a day. Living on borrowed time.


	3. Chapter 3

Turning Slowly

I don't own Skins at all, obviously

Chapter Three

"Shit!" I whispered to myself as I was shaken awake by my own head falling. I had fallen asleep against the window waiting for Naomi's knock. My neck was tight and I was discombobulated for a minute. I stood up, walking around for a second moving my head back and forth, taking a few deep breaths. Walking up to my sink, I turned on the faucet, splashing a few handfuls of ice cold water onto my face shaking myself awake.

*Bam bam bam* I heard banging on my wall. My head snapped toward the wall that was, coincidentally, also Naomi's wall in alarm. Our knocking was always soft, barely noticeable in fear of getting caught and losing the only thing keeping us both sane. I flew over to the window.

"Hello?" I called out cautiously.

"There you are," Naomi said with a slight edge to her voice. I've learned, in Naomi talk, it means she's annoyed. "I've only been knocking for fucking ages now."

"Sorry, I fell asleep against the window."

"Figures."

"Oh shut up," I said. I've also learned how to talk to a pissy Naomi.

"Do you hear that noise?" Naomi asked, out of the blue. I've also had to learn to deal with how fast Naomi recovers from such annoyances. I frowned to myself. I didn't hear anything.

"What?"

"Shh, ssh, listen. It sounds like something rumbling on the road," Naomi explained. "That's why I pounded to get your attention."

I stuck my head out the window as far as it would let me and closed my eyes, listening. Sure enough, I did heard a low rumbling. It sounded an awful lot like a truck. It sounded like it was approaching.

"Am I actually hearing that?" I asked, worried my ears were deceiving me.

"We'll get to see a huge truck pass. That will be the fourth once since i've gotten here," Naomi said, sounding like a kid on christmas morning. I was hit with a profound sense of sadness for her, for us, for anyone else in here.

"You've been keeping track?" I asked, my voice betraying my attempts to hide my sadness.

"Not a lot to do round here, yeah?" Naomi quipped, clearly not pleased with my comment. She had a funny front on her. One that popped up at random times. One minute she would be sarcastically jabbing back and forth with me, and the next minute she takes offense to what I say.

Naomi and I stayed completely silent as we listened to the rumbling get closer. Then closer, then practically right in front of us. I felt my jaw drop as I saw three large construction vehicles, all in a row, drive into the old grey building across the way. I had spent hours looking at that dead, long-forgotten building.

Scads of men poured of these vehicles and began shouting to each other. I continued to watch them setting up shop and my mind began to reel. It looked like they were here to start a project. The building was obviously going to be reconstructed. It was only then I had neglected to notice the SOLD sign on the side of the building. Reconstruction would take a while. Weeks maybe.

*knock knock knock* "FITCH TO YOUR CORNER" A voice came booming through the door. It startled me beyond comprehension because they hadn't talked to me like that in a while. Not since I started listening better.

I was so stunned I moved away from the window, speaking not a word to Naomi, and went to my corner, sitting on my hands before I could even think. I heard the door unlock and slam open. I instantly flinched. My heart raced.

I felt a presence walk a few steps closer to my corner. I felt my body begin subtly trembling. I hadn't been this close to another individual in over two months at this point. And this was someone I should be rightfully afraid of. I closed my eyes and immediately cursed those construction workers.

"New rules, Fitch. Things are going to change," The voice said. I sat frozen, debating whether he was expecting a response. A sharp blow to the back of my head quickly, answered my question. I bit my lip to keep from crying, instantly tasting blood from biting my tongue.

"Okay..." I squeaked out.

"No more lights on at night. Nothing. We are turning the electricity off every day by five. No going to the window during the day. Most importantly, NO thoughts of even thinking about trying to get their attention. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," I answered, finding my voice. I heard the man walk around my room for a second or two before I heard shattering. I flinched when I realized it was my lamp. Then the door slammed shut.

It only took a few seconds for the tears to starting falling down my face at a rapid rate. I was shaking, my head was pounding and I couldn't get myself to calm down. It wasn't the first time they had hit me, but it was a sharp reminder that I could still be harmed here. Falling into a routine and talking to Naomi every day had put me into a very bizarre comfort zone. A sharp reminder that the comfort was only a mean facade.

*knock knock knock* I heard Naomi tapping on the wall. She probably had a little visit herself and is wondering how I am. She knows I'm the weaker out of the two of us. It frustrates me, but it's reality. I'm strong, I know it. I'm very strong, but Naomi's stronger. I depend on her in an odd way and she knows it. Responds to it, even.

"Hi," I said outside to the cold, thin air. The sun was beginning to set. The power would be shut off in just a matter of time.

"Alright?" Naomi asked quickly, probably picking up on the fact that I had been crying. Argh, my stupid voice. I suppose I can't really blame her though. Only hearing someone's voice causes you to pick up on the slightest emotional blip at the first word. All we had were each other's voices. I tried to do the same with her, but Naomi is always so even with her words. She doesn't let any emotion through, other than emotions concerning me.

"Yeah, I don't know why I let them get to me," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Act all embarrassed," she said. "You're in a completely different situation than I am Ems, you've never seen them. You've never talked to them and that puts a whole new element of fear into the situation. Especially when they're mad. So please, don't apologize for crying.

"Alright," I said, trying to disguise my surprise, hoping I get away with it this time. We have been talking for about a month now, and mostly what we talked about was stupid stuff. We never really got into personal stuff, just enough facts about each other to learn something new each day. So for her to say that was a little bit of a new thing for us. We sat there in silence for a few seconds before I got the courage to bring that up.

"Naomi?"

"Yes?"

"How come we never talk?"

"Are you completely bonkers? We talk every day."

"No, no, I mean like really talk. You're a very open person, and I know everything about your likes and dislikes, your opinions on politics and what has happened to you as this place, but I know nothing about before it," I said. It was true, Naomi was so willing to share so much about herself, but you couldn't help but feel she had a pocket full of secrets.

"I know nothing about YOU before this place either," she responds in typical Naomi fashion. Which of course, is a lie. I've definitely shared more of my past than she has, but I let it got for the moment.

"But why?" I pressed. I still felt very vulnerable. I knew what I was doing. I was looking for some comfort. Any form of comfort Naomi could offer.

"I don't know about you, but I think I know why I do it," she answered softly.

"You do?"

"Yeah," she started. "Now don't get all soft of me, but I feel like you're an alright listener. You respond differently to me than most people did before this. I don't know...I guess I don't want to get any more attached."

"Oh," I said at a loss for words. I knew I felt myself getting attached to Naomi. No, I am definitely already attached to her. Even though I had never seen her, I had an image of her. We'd spent one night describing ourselves to each other because Naomi thought it was too weird talking to someone she couldn't picture in her head. I was completely attached to her personality, even though I probably wouldn't have associated with someone like her before. I knew I was getting attached, even though I knew she really...wasn't. There were so many "even though's," that hearing she felt the same way was a little surprising to me.

"It's odd, you know. Being attached to someone you've never met," she said, filling the silence.

"Definitely," I breathed out. I couldn't figure out what I was feeling.

"You think we'll ever meet?" she asked. The question sent a frightened chill through my body. It was a question I asked myself everyday. You think she might sound as scared as I felt voicing it, but like I said, Naomi never shares any emotion with her voice.

"I would like to think so," I said, thinking about where we both lived and avoiding the actual reality of that question. "Bristol and London aren't that far apart."

Naomi let out a few chuckles.

"Not at all."

"Do you think anyone's still looking?" I asked.

"It's been almost two and a half months..." Naomi said, trailing off. I wasn't stupid. I understood what she meant. That was a long time. The thought was always equivalent to a punch in the gut. My family probably presumed I was dead. The pain they were probably going through almost gave me a headache.

"I thought of something the other day though," Naomi said, changing the subject.

"Yeah?"

"What time was is when you woke up when you first arrived? I mean, do you remember at all if the sun was out? If it was day or night? I can't remember."

I had to think on that one. It was definitely light out, because my entirely white room had practically gleamed. Taunting me. The sun was lower because it was shining on the wall. Or, I think it had to have been. The sun wakes me up briefly every afternoon before I manage to pull the covers over my face.

"Possibly afternoon. The sun was lower," I offered.

"So you were out for at least 12 hours then?"

"Uh, I guess," I said. It still caught me off guard how blunt Naomi was. She spoke of our kidnap from such a calculating point of view, it was unnerving.

"I'm just trying to figure out how far we are from home. If you think you woke up early afternoon, I remember you getting here not to long after first meal. So there was only about an hour of time where you weren't awake here," She said.

"So I was out for most of that time," I heard myself say out loud, trying to fish where she was getting at. Then it dawned on me. "I was probably traveling for most of that time."

"Exactly. I'm beginning to worry about how far we are from Bristol."

"We've got to still be in the country right? How in the world would they get us on a plane?" I asked.

"That's a good point," Naomi said, sounding deep in thought.

"I don't think 12 hours is enough to take a boat anywhere far either," I said, knowing I was simply saying it to make us feel better, because it was far from the actual truth.

The reality was, this was a very methodically planned out event. Who ever orchestrated this fuck up of a situation had thought out a lot of details. While I believed we might not have been put on a plane, I don't doubt we could have traveled by boat some where.

"Those construction workers are going to cause some trouble," Naomi stated.

"Are you scared?" I asked.

"Yeah," she answered, so matter-of-fact you think i'd asked her about the weather.

"Scared about what?" I pushed, desperate to figure her out.

"A lot of things," she said vaguely, to my disappointment. "We're going to have to be careful when we talk now. Only late nights. We can sleep during the day."

"Okay," I said, feeling an over all defeated sense overcome me. In all shapes and sizes.

"But I need us to keep talking, okay?" Naomi said, her voice cracking just a bit. My ears perked up. Was that almost emotion I heard in her voice?

"Obviously," I said, breezily. Scared that if I said something to sentimental, she would take her comment back.

"Good," I heard her breath out.

That moment felt like a breaking point with us. It cleared a small wall that was unintentionally put there. I think...Naomi is my current best friend. Which, sounds so foreign on my tongue, especially since i've never properly met the girl, but neither of us care. All I know, is I don't know how I'm going to go back to life after this, if there is a life after this.

I've heard about this in one of my many psychology courses in college. The acceptance stage. We both have accepted the reality and our situation. While we both want out, we both are completely riddled with the fear of what is outside these four walls.


	4. Chapter 4

**A very warm thank you to everyone who's been reading this little fic of mine. And a special thank you to those of you who took time to review this. I only have a second to post this, so this is a quick note, but to coolbeans17-I have an outline of this story as I wrote something similar to it for a class, but I have been changing it up a bit. So we'll just say that I have a "tentative" overall plan...that I happen to be pulling out of my bum as I go. : ) suffice? I hope it ends up working for everyone. Thanks again, enjoy! **

**Skins isn't mine at all. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Four**

It's been two weeks since the construction guys arrived. Two entire weeks. I quietly watch them out the window in complete envy and awe. Men came and went every hour in the place, just as they pleased. They could leave. Just get up and leave, and that baffled me.

I noticed, within the first couple days, this building took great interest to a few of the men across the way. They would stand and stare at the building for minutes, seeming deep in discussion. It would be so easy, so incredibly easy to flap my arms like a banshee and get their attention. But, something was holding me back. I still haven't figured out what.

"_It's that kidnapping loyalty thing," Naomi had said to me one night when I picked her brain on why I might be too scared. _

"_I'm sorry, the way?" _

"_The thing, you know, the thing where you become wicked loyal to the one person who treats you like complete shit?" _

_I vaguely recall being lectured on something to that nature in one of my basic psychology courses. Although, it didn't seem to fit entirely. _

"_I don't think that's it," I said. _

"_Well then, I don't know Emily," Naomi said evenly. _

"_Okay," I said. _

"_Don't do that. Fight me," Naomi suddenly said. I had been leaning my head against the window and lifted it out of surprise. _

"_Excuse me?" _

"_We're both bored out of our fucking minds, the least you could do is argue with me," Naomi said, again completely logically and evenly. _

"_I only argue when I really care about something." _

"_Okay, then let me scheme up a scenario," Naomi said, a hint of excitement hitting her voice. I waited patiently. I didn't have any other choice. "Alright, alright, okay, you once told me you're vegetarian right?" _

"_Yes." _

"_Well then you're boyfriend has taken you out on a date. A fancy date, one you've been looking forward to a very long time." _

_I begin laughing before I can stop myself. I could already tell this story wasn't going to get me passionate enough to argue about anything. Then I felt my ears flood with heat. Shit. I hadn't exactly told Naomi this yet..._

"_What's so funny?" _

"_I just don't see myself in that situation. It's already unbelievable." _

"_Really," Naomi deadpanned. _

"_Yes." _

"_Fancy dinner too much?" _

"_Boyfriends too much." _

"_Okay then imagine it's your friend and it's a birthday dinner or...," Naomi stopped trailing off. Then was hit with realization "Ooooh." _

"_Yeah," I said, offering up few words. Naomi would definitely be getting her passionate argument if she wasn't as opened minded as I was giving her credit for. _

"_Why didn't you ever tell me you were gay?" _

"_Didn't come up." _

"_Oh." _

"_Is that a big deal?" I asked, feeling a spark to my voice. This got old much of the time, and fast. _

"_No, no," Naomi said quickly. "I just didn't know." _

"_We're stuck between four walls. Who I fancy sleeping with doesn't exactly come into play," I said, thoroughly annoyed. In reality I was terrified. Terrified it would change things if Naomi couldn't handle it. _

_There was a beat of silence. _

"_You always surprise me Emily," Naomi finally said. _

"_In what way?" _

"_I think I know you, know your personality. You come off as pretty calm and even headed. Somewhat docile and reluctant. Then you pop out with cut's like that one, and remind me that I don't really know you." _

_For some reason that made me really sad. _

"_You know me well," I insisted quietly. _

"_I guess I do. I think these walls trick me into thinking I don't know you." _

"_They are the best facade. We could hide behind them all day." _

"_Yes, yes, we could." _

Some days I shock myself with how comfortable I am with all of this. Then again, I was never someone who freaked out in weird situations. I'm definitely the girl who stands about, frozen in shock and not uttering a word while waiting for my brain to catch up with my emotions. Perhaps that is why I find myself panicking less and less about being in the middle of god-knows-where, in a small room, in some kind of danger I have still yet to figure out.

I blame Naomi. She completely calms me. She calms me to the point where it's been nearly three months now and I haven't taken action on why I'm in here. Naomi keeps telling me not to ask because there aren't any answers to find. That this whole situation is random, but for some reason I don't buy that. Maybe she's telling me this to keep me from finding out stuff I shouldn't.

The biggest reason I think this is because she DOES talk to these men. These men only yell sharp commands at me yet I have heard Naomi have entirely rational conversations with them. Granted I can never hear the words, but when Naomi leaves the window open I can hear them.

I have decided I am going to talk to Naomi about what she knows. Get something out of her. Which it should be known, will be no easy task. Naomi can open up, but only when she wants to open up. Then even when she does open up, she's still cryptic and everything.

"Shrimp, what took you so long?" Naomi asked later that night, implementing the nick name she started using when she found out I was only 5'2''.

"I had to finish my sit ups," I exclaimed. That wasn't a lie. I had fallen into a routine. Purposefully put myself into a routine. It made things enormously easier to handle. I would wake up straight before first meal, then clean myself up. Read until second meal, then busied myself with a work-out regime of sorts and would either take a nap or lay around until Naomi or I knocked.

"If you keep doing those sit ups, you're going to get the stomach of a man," she accused.

"A six pack isn't a horrible thing."

"No, not on a guy. But on a girl? It seems sort of unreal."

"Well, good thing my stomach won't be bothering you any time soon, yeah?" I ask, feeling oddly hurt by the comment. I lifted my shirt and examined my stomach, noticing the muscles forming.

"Yeah...good thing," Naomi said quietly. A huge silence fell over us. I lived in silence 18 hours of the days. I was not about to let any more of it creep into my life.

"I think I'm going to try to talk to the guys the next time they come in," I said abruptly, tossing out the first thing I thought would be a rise out of Naomi.

"What? NO!" Naomi shrieked. Yes, that's right, she yelled. Calm, cool, collected Naomi just freaked out on me.

"Why not?"

"I just...well...I don't think we know enough yet."

"I don't know enough yet. You clearly do. It's been three months Naoms! Time isn't standing still for us in these fucking cells."

That shut her up. My first instinct was to take back what I had just said, but I knew I had to stand my ground.

"I need to know. If you know anything, I need to know. Please tell me. If our friendship means anything..." I started desperately.

"I think," Naomi interrupted me. Then stopped. It was quiet. She was obviously trying to word herself. "I think I'm trying to protect you, can't you understand that?"

"Protect me?" I asked, shocked. That definitely wasn't what I was expecting to hear.

"Nothing i've heard is good. Nothing. Can't I just withhold information, just to keep one of us sane? I need you sane to keep me sane."

"But what if I need to know more?"

"Then I can't stop you from talking to those men."

"If you tell me, though, I won't have to risk that!" I said, getting frustrated.

"The guys who are here had nothing to do with our abduction," Naomi finally spit out.

"Right," I said. I had gathered that. They didn't appear to be the brightest bulbs in the box.

"They work for someone else. Someone who's never been here," Naomi rushed out. "There were seven of us when I arrived here, now there are only three. I haven't been able to figure out what happened to the other four."

"So...this is like, a fully functioning machine," I breathed out in shock. I couldn't wrap my head around it. If what Naomi was telling me was true, we were a part of something bigger. If someone had taken the time to form these rooms, kidnap teenagers, have guards watch over us and never even been to the building? It was so business like, it was almost scary.

"Yeah, and that makes it quite a bit bigger then you or I can handle by ourselves," Naomi said.

It brought me back to a conversation we had a couple days ago.

"_What sort of life do you have to go back to?" Naomi asked me one night, after we ran out of animals to name alphabetically. _

"_I didn't have anything set. I was planning to travel, but obviously this isn't where I had planned to travel too." _

_I heard a soft chuckle. _

"_I had been planning to travel too. Before Uni," Naomi said. _

"_Same." _

"_Do you ever wonder what it's going to be like? To go back after all of this?" _

"_It'll be really odd. Makes me wish London and Bristol were closer. That way when all my friends and family start to irk me with their questions and constant nagging, I can escape to the one person who gets it." _

"_I've thought about that too." _

"_Yeah?" _

"_How it'll be not talking to you every day. I think, beyond myself, i've grown a little bit fond of talking to you every day," Naomi said. I felt a surge of happiness grip my stomach. It wasn't often Naomi got sappy on me. I had to take moments like these and bottle them up for when she was being a right cow. _

"_We'll still talk," I encouraged softly, hoping I wasn't overstepping a boundary. _

"_Yeah, but once we get back into our lives, it'll get different," she said. My happiness was immediately squashed by her comment. She was right, it would be different. But I couldn't imagine not talking to Naomi after this. I think it scared me just as much as not getting out of here. _

"_Yeah." _

"_Luckily, or perhaps unluckily though, we've probably got a while before we have to worry about that." _

_I leaned my head against the window and puffed out a breath of air, seeing the heat of my voice contrast with the cool window. Fog appearing. I drew an E in the fog and erased it. Then that's when something caught my eye. _

_The construction site had huge lamps set up, and they had forgotten to turn out of the their big lamps. It was shining directly to the left of the building we were in. Onto the building. Something white had caught my attention. _

_I leaned my head out as far as the bars would let me, smooshing my face flat against them. The white object came clearly into view. It was a FOR SALE sign. What in the world?_

"_Naomi, do you see that sign?" I asked, hurriedly. _

"_What sign?" _

"_It's over to the left of my window. You might not be able to see it, but the construction light it shining onto it." _

_I heard shuffling, then a "hmm" in deep thought. _

"_That's a FOR SALE sign," Naomi said. _

"_Yes, brilliant eye there," I said sarcastically. _

"_Is this building for sale? How can it be for sale? It's been abandoned for ages." _

"_Is it ploy?" I asked, the sudden thought occurring to me. "To keep people away from searching the building?" _

"_I don't know, possibly. It's a good thought, but with construction workers across from us, reconstruction on another old building, it seems kind of risky." _

"_True." _

"_I'll see if I can grab anything out of these guys. This entire thing is getting way over our heads." _

I wondered if Naomi had asked about the FOR SALE sign, and just hadn't told me the answer. I wouldn't put it past her. Naomi did have a very odd protective hold over me. In all reality she's a month and two days younger than me. But she still feels the need to protect me. I don't argue with it. It provides a sense of comfort.

As Naomi and I continued chatting randomly, I let my mind begin to wander. What if this situation is bigger than the two of us. We could be in Iceland for all we knew, just encased liked sitting ducks, awaiting our doomed fate. I often wonder if I'll see another human being up close before anything rash happens. I wonder if my twin sister will even get the opportunity to make fun of my clothes again. If I'll get to endure another Fitch hug. I wonder if I'll get to kiss another individual, or even see my own fucking reflection. But most of all, I wonder all the time if Naomi looks anything like the person I picture in my head. And I'm suddenly boosted with another bought of motivation to get out of here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter for those of you still reading! Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Five**

I woke up with a start early one evening. I had been far too tired to read or exercise, opting for a nap so I'd be awake enough to chat with Naomi later this evening. Although, as I arose from my nap I realized, perhaps, napping was a bad idea.

My body felt as if it had been hit by a truck. I realized, with a twinge of dread, that I possibly had a fever. I was freezing, feeling my body shake under the light blanket, and my body ached in the typical feverish way.

How could I get sick in here? The only germs I ever exposed myself to were my own. I guess the food was prepared by someone, though. So it could be that. I felt a small wash of panic spread through my body. They wouldn't try to poison me...would they? I shouldn't have any expectations. This situation was not a good one. Poisoning was not off the table. Regardless, I felt a second wash of panic spread as my brain began to function properly. Fevers usually required medicine, something I wasn't sure I would be able to procure.

I glanced for my watch and noticed it was across the way on the one dresser occupying the room. I laid back in a frustrated huff. I was very discombobulated and didn't know what time it was. The sun was low in the sky.

I was arguing with myself to get up and fill my water bottle up at the sink when I heard a knock on the door.

"Second Meal," The voice boomed it's usually boom through my room.

I never ever spoke, but I was usually given a few seconds at best to get to my corner and as I sat up to move my lethargic body, I realized I was moving at the pace of a slug.

The door was equipped with a peep hole. A backwards peep hole, if you will. It's designed so the people outside can look in.

"SECOND MEAL FITCH," A second deep voice rattled through the door. I knew they couldn't see me in my corner. I sat up, shivered at the open air and tried to move. Slowly I got up and made my way to my corner, sitting weakly on my hands, trying to control my body trembles.

I heard the door open, and waited apprehensively. I didn't hear a tray of food slide across the floor. Uh oh.

"Are you sick?" the same voice that had yelled at my previous asked me. I briefly contemplated answering, but gave in, realizing it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"I might be," I said quietly. I felt my back clench in uncontrolled fear. It always scared me witless to speak with these guys. I found myself wishing Naomi's voice could be right next to my ear, telling me what to say to them.

"Cough?"

"Fever, I think."

The door slammed shut. I braved a look around behind me, assuming no one had shut themselves in here with me. The room was empty, as usual.

I spun my head back around to face the wall in confusion, wincing at the shock wave of pain that flew into my head. Was I not going to get any food? I wasn't hungry, but I knew I needed to eat. I was given barely enough food to keep functioning as it was.

Just as I was about to move back into my bed, I heard a knock on the door again.

"CORNER," the voice boomed.

"I'm in it," I used my strength to call out.

The door opened again, and the ever familiar and oddly calming sound of a tray gliding across the floor flooded my ears. The door slammed shut.

I looked over my shoulder again and spotted my usual meal, but this time where was a bottle of liquid fever medicine on the tray.

What? I was so fucking confused. My sickened head couldn't seem to blink through the fog. They had given me medicine with out even asking. I hesitantly got up and moved over to the tray. I lifted the bottle and inspected it. It looked identical to the stuff my mum used to give me when I was little. I cracked open the top and took a sniff. I scrunched up my nose. Yup, same disgusting smell too.

With out even reading the measuring label, I put the medicine bottle to my lips and drank to chugs of the medicine, trying to keep from gagging. I took a few bites of my bread and swigged some water before crawling back into my bed.

I laid there, waiting for the medicine to work and heard a faint beeping from out my window. A construction truck reversing. We had been living in a silent, dead world for three weeks now. The power would be shut off momentarily, as it usually was after second meal. I should have been thrilled to see human bodies, but it only added to the fear. The fear of knowing we were living on borrow time. A ticking time bomb. I knew it was only a matter of time before they became troublesome. In fact, I recalled one night a few nights ago when Naomi's and I realities were almost shattered.

"_Don't tell me you like those TV programs," I said to Naomi incredulously. We had been talking about what we used to watch on TV. Naomi had admitted to watching a few ridiculously mind numbing reality TV programs. _

"_Better than those soaps you just admitted to watching," she quipped. I almost smiled at her predictability. If there was anything Naomi didn't enjoy, it was being picked on for who she was. _

"_At least they have decent plot lines." _

"_You're shitting me right? I'd take fabulous drama or a monotonous, overly used story plot any day." _

"_I think that's probably the closest you've ever gotten to accurately describing yourself," I challenged. _

"_That I like drama?" _

"_You certainly like to create it, Miss-I'll-Argue-With-Anything-With-A-Pulse." _

"_At least I'm not a fake soap." _

"_Are you calling me fake?" _

"_Your words not mine." _

"_Fucks sake, stop hiding behind your bitch facade and let Naomi come out to play," I said, defeated. When Naomi got rolling, it was hard to stop her. _

_She let out a small chuckle. _

"_I like that." _

"_Like what?" _

"_You get me. It's cool. I suppose there's an upside to only getting to talk to someone. You can't help but get to know them." _

"_This is true I..." I started and trailed off when I noticed two men come out of a trailer set up across at the construction site. _

_I heard Naomi faintly acknowledge them as well. I realized the sun was coming up. Occasionally Naomi and I talked until early morning when we got caught up in conversations. This had been one of those nights. I pegged it to be nearly six a.m. But I certainly hadn't been expecting anyone up at the construction site, let alone sleeping there. _

_The men looked both ways and crossed the street, heading toward the building. _

"_Fuck, don't," I heard Naomi say. I knew she wasn't talking to me. She was willing, with all of her power, for those men not to come any closer. But they continued on anyway. _

_I felt my heart beat in my chest. Tick tick tick. Our ticking time bomb was growing louder. _

_A noise behind me startled me, and I heard a clammer come through Naomi's wall too. I realized it was the door unlocking, and that Naomi had most likely been startled by the same noise. I flew, faster than a flash, to my bed. _

_The door creaked open and I laid in my bed pretending to be asleep. _

"_Fitch," a voice called out loudly. _

"_Yes?" I said, not bothering to pretend to me asleep. I was being addressed. Directly addressed, which didn't happen very often. _

"_Don't you move a fucking muscle. You stay in that bed until I say." _

"_Okay," I said, fear mounting. I had no idea what would happen if those men came into the building. _

_I listened to the silence for a whole 20 minutes before the door reopened a smidge again. _

"_False alarm," the voice said. "You're fucking lucky." _

_I closed my eyes tightly. In a current reality filled with little good, these hits of fear and disappointment were becoming common, but that sentence rattled me. It sounded so real. More real than any threat i've received during my time here. _

I woke up with another start in a pitch black room. I instantly realized I was covered in sweat and let out a sigh of relief. My fever had broken. I was still wiped out, but I no longer felt achingly ill. I tried to gather my surroundings as I rolled out of bed to find my watch in the dark. I felt my way over to the window and used the natural light to read it. 3:06 a.m. Fuck.

I tiredly walked over to the wall separating Naomi and I and knocked softly. I didn't hear anything. A very weird sense of sadness came over me. My one stability wouldn't be offered to me tonight. Naomi must be sleeping. I knocked once more, and after a few more minutes of silence, retreated over to my window, feeling the need for fresh air.

I glanced out the window and saw lights on in the trailers across at the construction site. I had a sudden thought, were these men really sleeping here? I was certain not all of them were, but it definitely looked as if a few did. It made me wonder how far we were from civilization. I didn't think construction workers usually crashed on site, but maybe they did if it were far out enough. I could see a shadow or two passing the lit window of one of the trailers. Someone, or a few someone's, were still awake.

I heard a faint thumping and realized it was music. Music from inside the trailer. A few seconds later the door swung open and two guys stumbled out, presumably drunk.

I could hear them talking to each other and strained my head out the window to try and hear what they were saying in the dead silence of the night. Their conversation slowly came into focus.

"What do you reckon is in that building? We've all tried to guess. Mr. Edward's been looking into what it used to me. He might be into buying it," one of the men said. For some reason, I felt a surge of excitement at the fact that they spoke english. It meant we were probably still in the UK somewhere.

"We think it's haunted," the other admitted.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. We think we've seen people walking around inside of it. But look, it's completely abandoned."

They both stumbled to the middle of the road, stopped and peered up at the building. Seeming to stare right up at my window.

"Let's go in and see if it's haunted."

"No way."

"Are you scaaaared?" one of the men taunted and began walking closer to the building.

"Fuck, stop," I heard myself saying, practically imitating Naomi's words from the other night.

"Naw, let it go."

"Come on, don't be a chicken shit."

They disappeared from my view as they got closer to the building. I leaned back against the support of the window quickly, shutting my eyes. Listening.

I heard them wrestling with what sounded like a lock. They were jiggling with it. Fumbling. I held my breath.

Then another sound hit my ears. One of foot steps in the building. But those quickly faded away.

More jiggling, then silence.

Two loud bangs pierced through the air. Two bangs that sounded dangerously close to gun shots. I heard two faint slumps on the ground.

I slowly let out the breath of air I was holding and heard a few bangs through Naomi's wall. The sound had woken her up. I felt a large sense of anguish at the fucking piece of wood and plaster separating us. I needed her voice. I needed her voice to calm me.

My anguish was replaced with a rip of fear when I heard frantic foot steps come closer to my door. Out of complete gut reaction, I stood up from the window and only got to the middle of my room before I heard the lock of my door being unlocked.

My eyes didn't have enough time to adjust from the natural light of the night sky to my pitch black room, and I vaguely saw the door open and a figure fly toward me. An arm swooped around my neck and a cloth placed to my nose.

I tried to fight, but within seconds my arms turned to jello and my brain turned fuzzy. Then nothing but blackness, only this time...and entirely different sort of blackness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reading everyone! Special thanks to RuinMyLife, IAmAwesomeBecauseMyNameIsSam, Serroi, Neverhappy10, blueMoon28, Anonymous-Obsession13, darthcaiter, LostApology, and tclick for your reviews on my last chapter! I'm glad you're all liking this. Mystery can be a very entertaining thing, and I plan to give it to you. : )**

**Skins isn't mine**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Six**

I woke up slowly to a dull roar, both in and outside of my head. I braved opening up my eyes and was met with pitch blackness. A part of me was relieved because my pounding head couldn't take any light, but the blackness sent a jolt of fear through me.

I laid my head back down on my arms and realized I was laying on something plastic. I sat up very quickly, ignoring the pain radiating through my skull and instantly regretted it, as I hit my head hard. On the top of...what?

I felt around myself and realized I was caged. Quite literally caged. I could feel plastic and metal surrounding me on all sides. About three feet by a foot and a half.

That's when I finally was able to place the dull roar outside of my head. It was that of a vehicle. Yes, it was definitely a car engine. Which meant that I was currently inside a cage, inside a vehicle, going god-knows-where.

"What the fuck," I said loudly, the pure fear in my voice scaring the shit out of me.

My bubble no longer existed. My white room of a bubble, my routine, everything that had kept me sane in this entirely odd and awful situation was gone. I started breathing really hard, my head spinning. I recognized what had happened to me. I had been drugged, very similarly in the way I had been drugged the first time.

"Emily, breath," Naomi's voice rang through the small space that had been growing smaller.

Words cannot describe the flood of relief that flew through my system. Naomi was here. She was here with me. I wasn't alone. She sounded only a foot or so away from me. Wait a minute, Naomi was only a foot or so away from me?

"Naomi?" was the only word I could squeak out. Her name was the only thing flooding my mind. I wasn't alone.

"No, I merely stole Naomi's voice. My name is Billy and I am the ghost of Christmas..."

"Naomi? Shut up," I said, my voice considerably lighter. Leave it to her to joke in a situation such as this.

"Is your head alright?"

"It's getting there. What the fuck is going on?"

"I haven't the faintest clue. All I know is I was pulled from my bed and before I knew it, I woke up in this...cage? Is this a cage?"

"It feels like one."

"It feels like a dog cage," she said, observantly.

"So were being caged like dogs. That's comforting."

"Something happened," Naomi said, and I suddenly remembered Naomi hadn't witnessed the odd chain of events that had taken place while she was sleeping.

"It did. Two construction workers tried to enter the building. I heard them fussing with the lock, and then I heard two gun shots..." I trailed off, suddenly realizing something. The two construction workers had to have been the one's who were shot. They didn't have any weapons on them, quite contrary actually, they were blubbered out of their minds and only half clothed.

"They were shot?" Naomi asked, surprised.

"I'm assuming so," I said, sounding forlorn. God, what was this? Where had we been kept? I felt suddenly naked. We had held on to false comfort for weeks on end when there were guns just downstairs. The danger, not immediate and straight in front of our faces, had been entirely ignored.

"Maybe that's why were being moved."

"You think we're being moved?"

"I think we're in a moving vehicle Ems," she pointed out sarcastically.

"Sorry," I said, shaking my head. I hated when I was pointlessly daft. "Where do you think they're taking us? They can't possibly have more than one of those buildings."

"We'll see soon, I reckon."

Silence filled the space between us.

"You're only a foot away," I said after a minute.

"You're voice doesn't sound as deep up close," Naomi pointed out. I almost rolled my eyes.

"I sort of panicked when I thought you weren't with me in here," I admitted. I closed my eyes, imagining the person I envisioned Naomi to look like rolling her eyes at my lameness.

"I did too, until I heard your breathing," Naomi said, casually. I opened my eyes in the pitch blackness.

"My breathing?"

"You were breathing heavily, and then I heard you mumble and I knew it had to be you. I'll admit I was relieved. Your voice brings an odd sense of normality."

"I'm glad you're here."

"I'm still stuck on why those construction workers would have been shot," Naomi said suddenly. Typical Naomi, avoider extrodinaire. My head was beginning to do me in and I found a surge of annoyance growing in me.

"Stop being so analytical."

"Pardon?" Naomi asked, surprised. As if I had interrupted a very deep thought process.

"We're in a fucking vehicle, caged like animals and you're looking at the situation as if you're the detective signed on to find us. Stop it. Act like a human, act as scared as I am," I said, my voice growing louder.

"I am scared. I'm scared all the time," Naomi said.

"Could have fooled me."

"Emily, not everyone acts the same when they're scared. This is how I deal. I have to think of our situation, figure it out. It gives me hope. Sitting here in this god forsaken cage sharing my feelings with you about how scared I am won't help me."

That shut me right up. And it hurt. For the first time, Naomi's cut throat words actually hurt me.

I rolled over in the small space, my back toward Naomi's voice and curled up into a ball. I heard Naomi sigh.

"Don't do that," she said. It really should become her trademark statement.

"I need to sleep off this headache. Then maybe I won't be such an emotional cow."

"I didn't say that," Naomi said, actually sounding sorry. I almost cracked, but forced myself not too. In a way, as much as her words hurt me, Naomi was right. Sitting here, feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to solve anything. Being honest about my feelings wasn't going to help right now. I needed to seriously harden up, and I figured a nap might help. My headache easing up might help.

"Just let me sleep it off," I said, more harshly than I meant to and shut my eyes, willing my body to sleep.

Naomi didn't utter another word. It took me a really long time, but eventually I fell into a fitful sleep.

When I woke up, the dull roar both in and outside of my head was gone. I pushed myself up on my hands quickly and tried to gather my surroundings. Still caged up, but this time, there was more light in the van. I couldn't see more than a foot in front of me, but it wasn't the daunting pitch blackness from earlier. The van wasn't moving and it was day time. But we were still in the cages. What was going on?

"We've been stopped for an hour or so. Who ever has been driving has left. I think we're in a parking garage. I can hear the echo's," Naomi's quiet voice said. Her voice was soft, as if she was anticipating me firing off at her again.

"Interesting," I said, finding that sleep didn't do much to ease my annoyance up at Naomi. Truthfully, I didn't understand why I was annoyed with her. I don't even know if it's her I'm annoyed with or myself. Annoyed that this situation is getting to me more than her. Maybe I'm jealous.

"I'm sorry," Naomi said. "You constantly indulge my stupid theories about this situation at all hours. You unintentionally help my fear. I should do more to help yours. If talking about this helps, then we can talk."

I almost had to laugh at how awkward she sounded. Bless her. I knew talking about feelings wasn't Naomi's forte' and even just offering it made her uneasy. I could tell by the way her voice slightly quivered.

"I'm just comforted knowing you're just as scared as I am. Sometimes when you babble on about different observations, I get annoyed. Sometimes I just want you to admit you're scared too, so I don't feel so alone," I said honestly. In our situation, honestly in inevitable. You can't fight it, because it just hangs there in the air like an ugly Christmas decoration.

Naomi stayed silent at that. We heard foot steps and some slamming on the back of the truck.

"I here you talking in there, shut the fuck up," A voice yelled. I recognized the voice.

"That's Justin," Naomi said, so quiet I almost didn't hear her. I felt myself relax. Oddly enough, having a name to the voice made it better. Made him more human, less of a voice.

"You'll get food soon," He gruffed. "Fitch you need any more fever medication?"

I hadn't thought about that, ironically. My body still ached, but I wasn't sure if it was from the fever or the drugs.

"Not at the minute," I replied.

I heard more footsteps, and then the doors of the vehicle open and shut, shaking the car. The engine started up, and sure enough, the echo convinced me that we were more than likely in a parking garage. Naomi was right.

"You had a fever?"

"It's why I didn't come to the window last night, I had been given fever medicine."

"They gave you medicine?"

"I was just as shocked as you are."

"This whole thing doesn't make sense. They feed us, give us soap, an occasional book to read and fever medicine. If I wasn't mistaken, i'd think they're trying to make us comfortable."

"It would be a little easier to digest if they were rude and horrible, huh?" I asked.

"I think so. Then at least we'd know what to expect. I sort of feel like we're waiting for the unknown. That's worse."

"Yeah, it's worse."

"How many people do you think are looking for you?" she asked randomly.

"I have a sister and a brother and my parents, obviously. Then extended family. You?"

"Just my mum," she said.

"It doesn't matter how many are looking, it matters the quality of the search," I said trying to sound hopeful. Naomi had sounded very sad just then.

"I know. And my mum will probably strip for the police to get them to look harder," she said. I almost laughed. I couldn't quite tell if she was serious or if sarcastic Naomi was out to play.

"I know my parents love me, but sometime I question how hard they'd search for me," I admitted, quietly. After realizing the pang Naomi's comment sent through me. "Since I came out, things haven't been the same. Everyone does they're own thing. I sort of wonder how long it took them to notice I was gone..."

"They're looking for you," Naomi said.

"How are you so sure?"

"They'd be an idiot not to. And you know what? We just need one of our parents to find one of us, and we're both saved. Just one person. I would never leave you behind in here."

"Same," I said, but it didn't do much to squash my nerves. It's not only been three months, but we were being transferred, so even if our parents hadn't given up searching, any leads would be gone now. Hopelessness was creeping up.

"Don't do that," Naomi said.

"I didn't even do anything."

"You didn't have to, I heard you anyways," Naomi said. It still surprises me everyday how much you can learn by just listening. That's all i've had with Naomi. I've learned that when she sighs, she's exasperated. When I hear her fidgeting, she's excited and when I heard her talking through the walls at night, she's having good dreams. She's silent during the bad ones. It's not surprising she could tell my mood by a particular sound.

"I'm sorry, it's just been a long few days," I said.

"Don't apologize," she said softly.

Then I saw four long fingers wrap themselves through the plaid metal door of my cage. I could barely make them out in the darkness, but I knew they were Naomi's fingers. My heart beat faster, this was the first i'd ever seen of her. Granted it was just her fingers, but she was closer than she had ever been. That provided a comfort unknown to me at that point. I hesitantly reached out and hooked my pointer finger through her pointer and middle finger. She gripped back tight.

"Let's just lay like this for a while, yeah?"

"Yeah, for a while."


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, so thrilled you readers are enjoying this! It's been great fun to write and the reviews are great great fun to read. Although, I'm afraid I have a plan, and the plan may involve you staying in the dark for a while longer. But stay with me! I'm promising to deliver...something! : ) Read and enjoy! **

**Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Seven**

I'm assuming at some point both Naomi and I had fallen asleep because I woke up cramped and annoyed sometime later. I felt something warm on my hand, and noticed long, slender fingers laying on top of time through the holes in the metal cage door. Naomi's hand. I heard soft breathing a foot away from me and knew she was still sleeping.

The car wasn't moving anymore. I honestly had no clue where we were. I doubted that driving, we could have left the UK, or even England. But then again, I'm not sure what this vehicle looked like, if border patrol would question what they were doing. We had been driving for what felt like hours. So where were we going?

I carefully slipped my fingers out from underneath Naomi's and laid on my back in my personal plastic and metal jail cell. Stretching out my back.

Then I heard a soft voice from outside the vehicle. I couldn't quite make out what was being said but I heard words and sentences.

"Sleeping."

"They're yappin' too fucking much."

"Ransom."

The last word almost made me catch my breath. Ransom? Why hadn't I ever considered that before. Newly, and newly ignorant rich father. Daughter taken from bed in the middle of the night. The invisible Fitch taken from her bed. The least likely child to get noticed missing straight away.

"Should we switch cars?"

That last part made me forget my temporary family woes and pay more attention to what he was saying. Switch cars? Would we be drugged again. A scared breath escaped my mouth. I didn't want to be drugged again, especially knowing what would happen.

But then, all thoughts were temporarily interrupted when I heard Naomi wimper. I watched her fingers clench the metal prongs of the door. She usually only made noise when she was having a good dream, but she was clearly in distress.

"Naomi," I said quietly, not wanting to alert the person outside of the vehicle.

I heard her rustle and make a louder noise. I needed to wake her up. Acting on instinct I clutched her fingers between my hands through the cage, holding them tight.

"Naomi, wake up, please," I said, my voice pleading. Sure enough I heard a gasp of air and the hand I was holding violently ripped from my grasp.

I stayed silent, letting Naomi grab her surroundings again.

"Are you okay?" I asked after a few minutes of continuous silence.

"I'm fine," Naomi said, her voice edgy but wavering.

"And honestly?"

"I'm fine, Emily," she said, her voice losing all softness.

"Fine," I said, giving up. We couldn't afford to get into a noisy petty argument, and I could tell Naomi was looking for an argument. I dropped it for our safety.

The silence was deafening. I could hear Naomi's short breaths and knew she wasn't asleep. It also meant she was still fired up, what ever she had dreamed about had gotten to her, that's for sure.

The word Ransom flew back into my head again. A sudden thought made me ignore the urge to completely ignore Naomi until she came to her senses.

"Naomi, does your mom have money?" I asked, and shut my eyes tight. Fuck, that came out entirely wrong.

"What? What kind of question is that," she responded hotly, confirming she was still being very bothered by something.

"I didn't mean it like that, it was just a..."

"Your dad struck gold, so you can't associate with anybody on a lower status level?"

"What? No. Jesus, don't be ridiculous Naoms."

"Then what?"

"I..just...well while you were sleeping, I heard somebody on the phone. I heard the word ransom."

"Oh, making sure my mum can pay the fee so you can be free," she snapped.

"Get the fuck over yourself. Honestly. Not everything is about you. I was asking because it would make some fucking sense of our kidnapping if your mum had a lot of money," I spat out as quietly as I could. I was completely irked. Naomi was being out of line.

More silence. I knew Naomi was thinking, I hoped my words had finally sunk into her thick skull.

"That would make complete sense," she admitted, quietly. "Except my mum has almost nothing to her name apart from a daughter with a temper, a bike with shoddy breaks, and a china set from my grandmother. She holds a community home in our house, to help with the rent and bills."

That was the most Naomi had ever really talked about her family. It had always been a sort of "off-topic" sort of thing. She told me loads about her friends, her schooling her hobbies in her home town. But never about her home.

When the temporary shock of her admission resided, more confusion set in. So it didn't all add up. Naomi and I weren't taken because our captors were looking for money. Or at least, I didn't think they were. What made it even more confusing was that I was the "mistake." Something went wrong, and it involved me. If it were a typical ransom, then Naomi would be the "mistake."

"We'll have to keep listening, and see if we can figure out what they meant by ransom," Naomi said again.

"And you're going to have to keep remembering we aren't against each other in this. You being rude to me, doesn't help the situation," I said, sternly. I was still agitated by her actions. I decided I wasn't going to take any more of it. Not until she could do it face to face with me. And then, although I would never admit it out loud, I would probably challenge her on an argument or two. A fired up Naomi was an oddly addicting one.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said. "I can only apologise."

"I'm not your enemy."

"You're my friend."

"I am."

"Actually, you're not just my friend," she started, and then trailed off. I held my breath as I waited for her response. What in the world was she on about?

"You're sort of like...my companion," she finished.

"A...companion?" I asked.

"Yeah, because we can't get rid of each other right now. We have to deal with each other, through thick and thin. And I've come to find, I sort of like dealing with you through thick and thin, because you are now one of only two people now who can shut me up before I blow up."

"Who's the other person?" I asked, with a small smile creeping it's way up onto my face.

"My mum," she said, simply.

"You seem to inspire it in me," I admitted. It was true. I hardly snapped at anyone but my twin, but Naomi made me do it more and more. And I wasn't entirely against obliging. It's true, it's just what I had to do, through thick or thin. The beauty of our unique friend...sorry, companionship.

"You've got an edge I can respect," she said.

"And you've got a temper I can respect."

The back of what must be a van opened up quickly, light flooding my vision. My eyes had a hard time adjusting, but they did eventually focus on one thing: Naomi.

I caught a very, very quick glimpse of her in the daylight. She had described herself accurately: peroxide blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, but she hadn't begun to do herself justice. She had the most hauntingly, beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen, and the fear hidden in them, in the quick glimpse I got from her, was enough to set my stomach on fire.

Her cage had been removed from the back of the van by two figures in large coats.

Two sensations hit me at once: the bright light in my eyes, now that Naomi's cage had been completely removed from my vision, and the cold. It was fucking cold, and I was only in a pair of training pants and a shirt.

I felt my cage slide to the edge of the truck and lifted. Then promptly dropped heavily onto the ground, so hard that my cage rolled onto it's side, rattling me around like a doll.

I smashed my face into the side of it, feeling a searing pain through my nose. I brought my hand up and saw a bit of blood.

"Don't drop her you morons!" I heard a voice yell. The voice of Naomi. What was she thinking, talking to them like that?

"Shut up," one of the guys said, kicking Naomi's cage. Her scared blue eyes flew into my vision line.

"And don't kick her cage!" I yelled hotly out of my own cage. It came out before I could even stop it.

"SHUT UP, both of you," The voice yelled. "Fuck, we're not going to be able to keep them where we thought."

"And why the hell not?" A second voice, a voice I didn't recognize came into play.

"Isolation. Isolation is key! Don't you remember what Mr. White told us?"

"Brilliant plan sticking them together in the back of the van together."

"Last time I checked we only had one working van. What was I to do? Strap one of them upfront with me? And pray no one questioned why I had a girl in a cage?"

This arguing back and forth was making my head ache. They were mad Naomi and I clearly knew who the other was. I sort of figured it might happen, had we gotten caught. Luckily they only assumed it happened during our travels.

"We only have one hole. It'll have to do for the time being. Come on, let's go."

Hole? Did he just say hole? As in hole in the ground? I body trembled.

Before I could even react, the door to my cage opened up. Out of complete instinct, I scurried to the back, my feet kicking out in front of me. My foot managed to kick who ever it was square in the face. I couldn't even celebrate my victory because as quickly as I had kicked him, my foot was grabbed and I was dragged out of the cage.

The daylight burned my eyes. The concrete burned my back.

I was picked up, a hairy arm holding onto my stomach as my feet continued kicking. It was only thing my brain was able to process doing.

But then I lifted my head.

Once again, two things caught my vision. One being an extremely abandoned parking lot. The other was Naomi. She too was being held up by an extremely large man. Naomi hadn't been lying, these men were huge. I could only see a curtain of blonde hair covering her face, as she kicked and screamed. She was much longer than I had envisioned.

She lifted her head and those hauntingly beautiful blue eyes met mine. They grew wide, and she opened her mouth to speak, but the large man covered her mouth with a white cloth.

I quickly felt one cover my own face. I knew what was happening, but was powerless to stop it. Blackness consumed me, yet again.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm updating far quicker than I ever anticipated, but this story line has gotten ME involved. And I'm the writer! I know what's coming! Ridiculous. Regardless, here's another chapter. I was stunned by how many reviews I got for the last chapter, I'm so happy to see it picking up. I apologize for the slower pace of the story, but build up can be fun. Right? : ) **

**Thanks again to every single reader/reviewer. I adore you guys already. Oh yeah, and Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Eight**

Scratchy.

That's the first word that comes to mind when my consciousness returns. My throat is scratchy, my back is scratchy, my legs and arms are scratchy.

Pain.

That's certainly another factor. Everything that's scratchy hurts. It's a dull burning ache. I briefly wondered if being drugged so many times had done this. I'm sure there is only so much chloroform, or what ever it was they were using, that a person can take.

I braved opening up my eyes and was met with total blackness. A familiar sense of dread washed over me. I was sick and tired of the blackness. I am kicking myself for hating my entirely white room where we were before.

Speaking of we, my brain immediately switched to Naomi. And her hauntingly beautiful eyes. Was she with me?

I started to get a better grasp of my surroundings. I was very clearly on dirt. My fingers dug into rocks and soft dirt. I could feel it caked on the side of my face. I lifted my hand and tried rubbing some of it off, finding chunks. Momentarily grossed out, it occurred to me it was probably blood mixed with dirt.

"Bleck," I said out loud as I suppressed a gag. My hand went to my nose, and found it wasn't bleeding anymore, thank god.

A rustle a few feet away from me scared the absolute shit out of me. I jumped so hard my already weak body trembled from the impact.

"Hello?" I called out hesitantly. I highly doubted one of the captors would keep themselves in a black hole with me and about 115 percent of me prayed it was Naomi. And I'm not even religious.

"Emily?" said a scratchy voice. It was laced with pain, but it was definitely Naomi's. Relief took over and with out even thinking, I crawled over and ran into a body.

"Ow!" Naomi shouted, and as fast as I had crawled over, I scurried back until my back ran into a wooden board.

She was here. She was literally right next to me. Granted, we were in total blackness, we weren't caged. There was nothing blocking us. I could touch her...I could actually be close to a human being for the first time in three months. My heart began beating fast.

"You're here," I blurted out stupidly.

"Scare you off?" she said, sarcasm once again inappropriately in place. It was sort of a relief actually to hear her joke, but she still sounded like she was in immense pain.

"Sorry, I think three months is long enough to forget what another human feels like," I tried to joke back. I didn't get a chuckle in return. "Are you hurt?"

"I should be asking you that."

"Stop protecting me. You sound like you're in a lot of pain," I said sternly. I slowly inched back closer to her.

"My ribs hurt, it hurts to breath," she admitted after a few minutes. I inched even closer.

"Do you think they're broken?" I asked hesitantly. I almost didn't want to know the answer, there would be nothing to help broken ribs. Suddenly my aching nose and scratchy body didn't seem so bad.

"I'm not sure, how do you tell?" she asked.

"Through an X-ray?"

"Really," Naomi deadpanned. Seems her pain hasn't turned off her odd sense of humor.

"Don't be a twat."

She chuckled and then I heard her wince in the darkness.

"I...I could check you? I mean...see...well...just to check...I mean you never...if they're broken maybe...I just..." I started stumbling out. The second I opened my mouth I regretted it. The ribs are located near the stomach. Checking would involve touching, and while Naomi seemed to have no problem that I was gay, it was an automatic reaction for me to assume she'd be uncomfortable. I blame my family.

"Emily, could you please check my ribs to see if you can figure anything out?" Naomi asked, clear as day. If I wasn't mistaken, I almost heard a smile in her voice. If that's even possible.

"Yes," I said, shaking my head and getting professional.

I carefully and slowly scooted forward back to where I figured Naomi was laying. After a few short scoots, my hands found her arm. It was freezing cold to the touch. Her hand immediately gripped my forearm.

"Careful," she advised, and I reached out another hand and located what felt like her hip. Sliding my body up to the side of hers, I desperately tried to make my eyes adjust to the darkness to see anything. It's completely debilitating existing in total darkness. Relying entirely on your other senses. Once I was situated at her side, I realized she was still gripping my arm tightly.

"Naomi, I might need that arm to check you," I said quietly once I realized this.

Wordlessly, she let go of my arm and promptly placed it on my ankle which was situated close to her face. In truth, I was incredibly thankful. This was probably the first human contact, true human contact, either of us had had in ages. We weren't about to let it go.

"I'm going to roll your shirt up, let me know if I hurt you," I said lifting my hands above her stomach. Lowering them slowly, I found her shirt. I rested my hands there for a minute, feeling her short gasps raise and lower her abdomen.

My hands gripped the bottom of her shirt rolling it up slowly. I carefully reached a hand underneath her, toward her back, to lift it slightly, allowing me to pull her shirt up as high as I'd need it. Her grip tightened on my ankle, but she complied.

I laid my hands flat on her stomach, familiarizing myself with it, so I could find her ribs. Her stomach was soft, warm and flat. Although, this didn't surprise me because through the quick glance I caught of her outside, she appeared to be long and thin.

I moved my hands up to her ribs furthest away from me.

"Other side," Naomi advised quickly, almost short of breath.

I dragged my hands across her stomach to where her ribs closest to me protruded from her skin. I lightly trailed my fingers over the three or four ribs I could feel.

"Does that hurt?"

"No."

I repeated my actions, only pushing a little harder.

"That hurt?"

"Not really."

I felt my way back up to the highest rib I could feel and pushed.

"That's uncomfortable."

I moved down to the second rib and pushed.

"More uncomfortable."

Down to the third.

"OW. Fuck, alright that's the ticket," Naomi said, through what sounded like clenched teeth. Taking in a hiss of a breath.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I said quickly, removing both of my hands from her body.

"No, no, feel it again. Do you feel anything out of place?"

"I'm not going to push on your potentially broken rib again," I argued.

"You are," she argued back, her hand that had been previously gripping my ankle fumbling around the dark and found one of my open hands. "Just let me grip this hand."

"Okay, if you say so."

"I do. And apologies in advance if I break your hand."

"Cheeky."

"Just do it, quickly."

Naomi tightened her grip on my hand, forcing me to squeeze back just to relieve some of the pressure. She was obviously in a lot of pain. I hesitated, but eventually brought my free hand back to her ribs, feeling my way back down to the third one. I pushed lightly until I heard her suck in a breath. I felt back and forth on the rib, not feeling anything out of place, then felt down to the forth one.

"It hurts more in the middle," Naomi said.

"In between your ribs?"

"Yeah."

"That's muscle, that might be a good sign. Nothing feels out of place, although I'm no X-Ray machine. You possibly just bruised your ribs," I said. "I wish I could see your stomach because the bruising might be able to tell me if you broke it or not."

I quickly rolled her shirt back down, and out of habit, began scooting away.

"Where are you going?" Naomi said, her voice sounding oddly frightened.

"No where, obviously," I snapped lightly. I heard her chuckle, then wince again.

"Don't make me laugh," she ordered.

"Sorry," I said. Silence consumed us for a minute.

"Where do you reckon we are?" Naomi asked.

"I think we are literally in a hole," I said, immediately recalling the words of the guys above us. 'There is only one hole.' I shuddered involuntarily.

"In the ground," Naomi said, an observation.

"Seems to be. Fuck it's cold," I said, suddenly feeling my body entirely. It always amazed me how out-of-body I was straight after being drugged. It never failed, my body always took a little bit to catch up with itself. It was possibly a blessing in disguise considering our current situation.

"My body's pretty frozen," Naomi agreed.

"I hope we're not in here long."

"I don't think we will be," Naomi said. My head, which had been hanging on my bent knees, snapped up at that.

"Why do I feel like there is more to that statement," I asked, cautiously.

"Because there is," Naomi admitted, letting out a breath of air. As if she didn't want to admit it, but had no other choice.

"Out with it then," I said, not able to hide my irritation. I always hated that Naomi held information from me. She always knew more. She knew I relied on her, yet she still withheld things.

"This is the only thing I haven't told you, and it was mostly because I didn't want you to worry about me."

"What?" I asked. I wasn't expecting that. Naomi had usually withheld information to protect me, not to keep me from worrying.

"I overheard someone talking...in the van, right before you came too it. Something about needing to relocate. Then something about keeping you safe. It sounded as if they need you alive. And to keep you alive, if need be, I would be used to keep you safe, what ever that may mean. Obviously keeping you in a hole in the ground wouldn't be wise if that's the case."

My mind spun. I knew that Naomi had told me if I was safe, she was safe, but I didn't realize it went that far.

"What about you?" I asked.

"What about me?"

"Are you saying that you're not a factor anymore?"

"I don't think so," she said, sounding stricken.

"But why?" I asked, confusing consuming me again. Fuck. Just when I thought we had an inkling of a lead, it was smashed. "You didn't want me to worry about you..."

I trailed off, because my mind was starting to slot the pieces together.

"What else are you leaving out?" I pushed. Naomi sighed.

"When I said that I would be used to keep you alive. He said specifically, 'the blonde will go before red if this plan doesn't work.'"

My stomach clenched.

"Over my dead body," I blurted out.

"Not really, I'll be dead first," Naomi said. I could tell she was intending it to be entirely sarcastic, only it truly wasn't funny. And entirely too realistic. She was hiding again, hiding behind her sarcasm.

"Naomi, I'd never let anything happen to you."

"What makes you think you'll have a choice?" The defeat in Naomi's voice present.

"Why are you giving up?" I pleaded.

"I'm not. I'm being realistic."

"No, you're not," I pushed again. "You're being completely unrealistic and honestly, putting zero faith into me. You think I'd let something happen to you? You think I wouldn't take a blow for you?"

"You barely know me."

I scoffed out loud, instinctively scooting farther away from Naomi.

"Barely know you? BARELY KNOW YOU?" I started, my voice getting loud. The throbbing in my head was aiding my anger, irritating, and hurt. "I know that you're favorite color is green, but sometimes it switches to yellow. Although, that only happens when you're happy, and I know you're not too happy a lot of the time because it sounds like you don't let yourself. I know that you can only manage to gag down half of the bread they give us because peanut butter creeps you out. I know that your sarcasm is your shield, but I don't mind it because it's who you are and above all, I know you're stronger than this. I know that you can't let three months of perseverance and patience slip out of the window. Not when I'm right here, not when after two months I'm finally within arms reach. More real, more human."

I took a deep breath, realizing I was huffing. It was getting hard to breath in this hole. My deeps breaths were met with silence. I decided to dig deep.

"If something happens to you, I would be powerless to stop something from happening to me," I finally said.

"Why?"

"You're my power bar. Don't you understand? You're the only thing keeping me together. If you think I'd let someone take that away from me, you're fucking nuts."

More silence. I tried to take a few deep breaths and settle myself down.

"No one's ever said that to me before," she finally said.

"What? That they'd like to keep you around?"

"That they care," she clarified. My anger ebbed away at that statement. Instantly replaced with remorse.

"Of course I care," I said, softly.

"I care about you too. This whole situation is fucking strange. I think I care about you more than any of my other friends."

"This is a unique situation," I offered.

Naomi hummed out a response.

"Please don't give up on me. I need you," I said, laying it all out on the line, not caring what a sap I sounded like.

"Only if you don't give up on me," she said, quietly.

"Over my dead body," I repeated again, this time my voice stronger.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," she said again, making me smile for the first time since I woke up.

I scooted closer so my knees were lightly touching the edge of her body. Taking in the closeness. I didn't know how long I would have Naomi, right here, within arms reach. I knew I needed to take advantage.

"You're trembling," Naomi said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"It is rather cold."

"Here lay down with me," she instructed.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not going to hurt me. Come on. Body heat and all," Naomi said, and I realized I heard a hint of shyness to her voice. I had never heard Naomi sound shy, and it turned out to be my kryptonite, seeing as I immediately laid down next to her.

"You can scoot closer," she said. Finally giving in, I scooted until the left side of my body was completely pressed against her right, being careful of her ribs. I linked my arm through hers. I instantly felt warmer.

"We thought we were living on borrowed time before," Naomi said. "The irony."

I didn't have anything to say back to that. I knew she was right, our tiny white rooms provided an enormous amount of comfort compared to this. Laying in a hole in the ground, injured and covered in dirt, we truly were living on borrowed time. There were no comforting words. Only comfort in knowing we weren't alone. I gripped tighter to Naomi's arm and she turned her head, ghosting her lips across my forehead.

We laid there, in a very small circle of comfort that was riddled with worry, pain, fear and an overall sense of confusion that didn't seem to be getting any better. The only question on my mind was, what will tomorrow bring?


	9. Chapter 9

**It's Halloween weekend, but unfortunately for me and possibly fortunately for you readers, I woke up this morning with a vicious cold/fever. Successfully canceling all of my weekend plans for me, and forcing me into bed all day. This inevitably ended up with a longer chapter, and a posting. **

**I can't begin to describe how happy these reviews and reader count have made me. The only downfall is now I have a girlfriend saying "I told you so" every time I get excited over a review, as I was initially hesitant on posting this. But it's a "worth-it" downfall. Please keep reading and reviewing, and offering anything you feel like. And please enjoy. : ) **

**Skins isn't mine, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Nine**

I woke up sneezing. Sneezing and shivering. Shivering and aching.

I stretched out my knees, which had been bent to cradle my aching lower back from sleeping on such hard ground. Wiggling my toes, a tingling sensation ran up and down my legs.

Immediately became aware of three things: how fucking cold I was as my body was practically vibrating, the painful short gasps of air Naomi was taking, and an equally cold object clutching my hand. More specifically, Naomi's very cold hand clutching mine.

I had no idea how long I'd been sleeping, but the room was no less dark. There was no way to tell if it was daytime or nighttime, or even how long we'd been cooped up in here. But I did know one thing: we weren't going to last in here much longer. Naomi was clearly in an immense amount of pain.

It occurred to me that I hadn't stood up yet. I slipped my hand free of Naomi's grip and carefully got to my feet. I teetered heavily, my equilibrium completely off from the total blackness. My arms flailed to grip something, as I tried in vain to avoid stumbling onto Naomi's body, still laying on the floor.

As my arms flailed they didn't even stretch completely above my head before they hit a wooden ceiling. In shock, I lowered my arms quickly and felt clumps of dirt fall into my face.

I coughed loudly and swiped at my face as a few fell into my mouth and eyes.

"Emily? What are you doing?" Naomi's voice cut through the silence startling me. But I was more startled by how weak she sounded.

"Trying to figure out where we are," I said.

I lifted my arms carefully and touched the wood ceiling again. Trailing my fingers across the wood, I felt indents. The ceiling was made of planks. I knocked quietly on the roof, and noted the hallow sound. It wasn't very thick wood. I pushed, it didn't budge. I pushed harder, and it still didn't budge. Alright, so it wasn't thick wood, but it was locked and latched some how.

"Any luck?" I heard Naomi asked. I turned my head to look at her, as if I would be able to meet her gaze through the darkness.

"It is, quite literally, a hole in the ground. I think you'd barely be able to stand upright in here," I said, observantly. It occurred to me how much the roles have reversed. I was now sounding like the analytical one, while Naomi, injured and weak, was waiting for my analyses. I didn't like the role reversal, but I took the job willingly.

I only have Naomi to thank for that really, she's inspired something in me. Something to not let me give up. To search for every possible inkling of a lead before giving in. It's one of my biggest debts to her. Although, what scared me most about this role reversal, is how much Naomi is giving up. The spark is gone from her voice.

She's in pain, and I wished there was something I would do to relieve her pain. A rip of anger surged through me. Why, after months of being treated amicably, were we suddenly thrown into a hole in the ground. I was sick and tired of remaining in the dark, both literally and figuratively.

"Naomi, cover your eyes," I ordered.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it," I said. I slammed the wooden ceiling hard with one hard, using my other to shield my eyes and nose.

I faintly heard Naomi cough, our little hole was being showered with clumps of dirt. I slammed the ceiling again.

"HELLO?" I shouted. A third slam. "IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"

"Emily, stop," Naomi's harsh voice said.

I ignored her, slamming again.

"STOP HIDING, SHOW YOURSELVES," I screamed, my voice already growing horse from the shouting.

"Emily!" Naomi's now very strained voice yelled at me. I could instantly hear how much it had hurt her to do that, and it shut me straight up.

Silence fell over us. I could hear both of our ragged breathing echo off the dirt walls.

"I'm sorry," I said, ashamed I had let my anger get to me.

"What's going on with you?"

"I'm tired. I'm sick and tired of this," I said, defeated, sitting back down on the dirty ground. I clenched and unclenched my fists, feeling the dirt and grime between my fingers.

"Taunting them will get us no where," she said quietly.

"And sitting here like ducks will?"

"No, but I've got to think. We've got to think, and I can't think right now," she said.

"Your ribs?" I asked knowingly.

I only got a hum of a response.

"I was hoping to get you some medicine," I said.

"You think they'd give me medicine?"

"If not, then they'd give ME medicine. I'd get it for you," I said.

I heard silence, and then repeated my words back to myself, realizing my fault.

"Naomi. We're in this together. We have to play the game if we're going to beat the game."

I heard her rustle a bit closer to me in our hole.

"You mean, play to their rules? While playing our own?"

"Exactly."

"But how?"

"For now, I'm going to fake symptoms to get some pain medicine for you. Then we will be able to think. Make a plan," I said, trying to make my voice strong. Oddly enough I was feeling encouraged by my own words. Plans were safety to us. They were the only thing we could possibly grasp onto now that we weren't in the sanctuary of our little white rooms anymore.

"Okay, once this pain subsides I should be able to..." Naomi started but was cut off when stripes of light flew into the dark hole, forcing us to shield our eyes with our hands.

"You ladies had enough down there?" A gruff voice said from above us. After letting my eyes adjust to the harsh light, I braved a glance up, seeing two sets of feet on the floorboard above us. Two of the men.

My eyes immediately met Naomi's. The shock registered on her face mirroring my own. I quickly took a survey of Naomi's body crumpled on the floor. Her face had dirt smudges, her blonde hair dirty, her clothes wrinkled. She looked terrified, but she was still devastatingly beautiful. I wondered why I hadn't noticed it in it's entirety before.

Neither of us responded, the surprise muting us silent.

I heard more rustling and what sounded like a lock being undone. Out of a totally unfair and twisted Pavlovian response, I was anticipating being drugged again and found myself instinctively crouching down next to Naomi. I felt her long fingers wrap around my arm nearest to her body, trying to sit up. Clearly anticipating the same result.

"Keep your pants on, we're doing something different today," A second voice said. I realized I recognized both voices. They were the same two men from the van.

Their words sent two jolts of relief and fear down my spine. Relief at not being drugged, and complete and utter fear over what they meant by 'different.' The grip tightening on my arm told me Naomi felt the same.

Wait a minute, Naomi. Naomi who has bruised ribs. Naomi who is in a lot of pain. A protective side of me kicked into gear, helping my brain fight through the frightened fog that had taken over.

"I've got sharp pains in my ribs," I said, suddenly. I snuck a sideways glance at Naomi and watched her bright blue eyes grow wide with confusion.

"Say what?" I heard one of the men say, pausing momentarily.

"I think one of my ribs might be broken."

"Fucking hell," the same voice said. Sounding very aggravated. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Naomi tugged my body closer to hers.

"I think it happened moving from the truck to the hole," I said, trying to sound as polite and less accusatory as I could.

"Fuck," the voice said, and I heard a slam on the top of the hole, releasing a few dozen rocks and dirt clumps onto us.

"They might not be broken though," I called out hesitantly.

"Yeah?" The voice said.

"They might be bruised. If I could just get some pain medication, then I'll know. If they're broken, the medicine will only marginally help."

Naomi looked at me again and I glanced down at her, meeting her eyes again. And if I wasn't mistaken, I thought I saw a look of pride on her face.

There was a lot of whispering and even more shuffling above us, forcing Naomi and I to shield our eyes from the falling dirt.

"One of us has vicodin. We'll get you a few pills. What about Campbell?"

"I'm fine," she called out, her voice much stronger than I anticipated it. I cringed knowing it was only a show for these guys.

"Good," the voice said, followed by a few laughs. The laughs sent chills down my spine.

"Can I please have that vicodin now?" I called out politely. The laughing stopped abruptly.

"Yeah, someone's getting it. But I've got something to share with you girls. We'll call it a little...reality check," the voice said.

"Vicodin first," Naomi said strongly. My head whipped around to look at her. She was in no condition to verbally fight with these morons. What was she doing?

"Your girly friends gunna get her fucking medicine. Calm down," the voice said, as if we were being impatient customers in line at a pharmacy. Fucking bastard.

A bottle was thrown down between the cracks of the wood, and just when I looked up I saw what looked like a heavy blanket being thrown over the top. We were encased in darkness again.

I yelped, not being able to control it. The dark was disorienting and upsetting.

"Emily," Naomi said, quietly. And very strained.

"What?"

"I need that vicodin," she answered calmly. "I need this pain to stop, then we can concentrate on what's about to happen."

I almost let out a sigh of relief. Old Naomi was back. Or trying her hardest to bring herself back. It was oddly calming. Almost protective.

I fumbled around in the dark and located the bottle. Quickly unscrewing the cap, I carefully emptied the contents into my hands. I counted the pills. There were eight.

"Eight pills," I told Naomi.

"God, my throats so dry, I'm not sure I'll be able to take it," she said.

I put seven pills back in the bottle, securing it down in the front of my bra, and immediately broke the pill in my hand in half.

"Find my hand, take both halves one at a time. It should go down easier," I instructed.

I felt her take the pills and heard her gag them down. Wincing with every gag. Every pain Naomi experienced was my pain, and vice versa. We were functioning on the same chopping block now, quite literally.

We sat together in silence. For the first time since we were put in this hole, human contact didn't help our growing fear. Talking didn't help our growing fear. Encased in darkness again had erased any hopes for forming a plan. I soon realized any effort was futile, seeing as they had plans of their own. We just had to keep smarter. Stall them. Save ourselves and our sanity one minute at a time.

After what must have been 20 or 30 minutes, I heard Naomi's breathing even out.

"Better?" I asked, quietly.

"Much better. I can breath now. The pain isn't sharp anymore."

"What I was saying before wasn't a lie, my mum used to be a practicing nurse. If they were broken, the vicodin wouldn't have helped all that much."

I heard Naomi let out a sigh of relief. I felt myself let one out too. Temporary sanity.

"Pain like that is all consuming. I can't think," she said, in a backwards way apologizing for her previous actions. I nodded in the dark. Realizing she wouldn't see me, I forced my equally dry throat to hum out a response.

With a very clear "whoosh" the heavy blanket was removed from the top of the hole again, light streaming in. Our honeymoon period was over.

Naomi hoisted herself up, kicking herself back into the wall behind her, taking me with her. We both sat backs into the dirt wall, knees pulled up to our chests, shoulders touching. Breathing loudly. Out of anxiousness, out of fear, but mostly out of not knowing.

The wooden ceiling of our hole was lifted up, practically light as a feather and tossed off to the side. I would imagine the top of the hole was about three feet wide and long, while the hole was about six feet wide and long. There wasn't much space for anyone to join us, so would we get out?

My question was answered when a ladder lowered itself into the hole.

"Come on," one of the men said. Naomi and I chanced a glance at each other.

"Fuckin pop to it," the second one said, growing agitated. It was enough to get Naomi and I to stumble to our feet.

"I'm coming right behind you, remember to act like you have hurt ribs," Naomi whispered into my ear as we walked to the ladder.

I climbed up, numbly feeling each of my legs step one step higher, my heart racing. I felt a hand softly push on my bum.

"Faster Ems," Naomi said, and I realized I was moving at the pace of a slug.

The light got brighter with each step, and I realized we were about six feet from the top, even after exiting the hole. Before my hands could even plant themselves on solid soil, I felt something scoop me out from underneath my arms.

I was spun around quickly before I could grip my surroundings and placed on something hard, my arms tugged behind my back. I yelped in pain, squinting my eyes at the brightness.

When they finally adjusted, they immediately focused on another yelping figure: Naomi. A huge guy, dressed in the same large jacket from earlier, this time clad with a knit mask over his face, was carrying her long body forcefully to a chair set about five feet across from me.

I watched him place Naomi harshly in her chair and saw her bit her lip to keep from crying out from the pain inevitably rocking through her body from her ribs. The guy secured her arms behind her in the chair, just as mine had been.

Once we were both securely tied the two large men backed up from both of us, coming into view as they stood to the side, staring back and forth between us. I couldn't bring myself to stare at them too long, fear freezing any movement. I wasn't breathing. I couldn't breath. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I became very aware of how cold it was outside, as my short puffs of breath resulted in puffs of fog when my hot air met the cold outside.

I looked to Naomi and watched her harden. She was retreating into stoic Naomi. I watched her face harden and her body stiffen. Bulking herself up to the unknown.

My eyes scanned around us. We were somewhere in the countryside. Green hills rolled on and on, covered with a thin fog. If I could take my guesses, I would have guessed it were still early morning. The sun not yet breaking through the damp fog from the previous night.

I tried in vain to harden myself up, but the edging fear consuming my body was getting harder and harder to fight. My body shivered in the light breeze and I braced myself for the unknown, knowing it was my only defense. I immediately envied Naomi.

"You two are giving us a run for our money," The shorter of the two figures said, causing a ripple of laughter from the taller one.

"Literally," the taller one added.

The word 'ransom' flew into my mind again. But before I could even begin to process anything, the taller one whipped out a video camera. He pushed a few buttons, and opened the screen. I heard a few beeps of it coming to life.

My lungs were on fire, and I realized it was because I wasn't breathing. Reminding myself to continue something so vital, I let out a shaky breath and in took another deep breath. Naomi's eyes flitted from the video camera to mine briefly. They were empty.

"Admittedly, we've fucked up a little bit. As you might have gathered," the shorter one started, as he began pacing in front of us. "A few blips on the radar, so to speak. Even though things aren't going according to plan, we felt the need to remind you who is boss."

After fiddling with the camera for a few seconds, the taller one made a motion to the shorter man. He nodded back.

"I'm assuming you've guessed your dear old parents are worried sick about you two. You're right...for the most part," he finished, his head snapping back and forth between us. Almost as if he were looking for a response. We didn't offer one.

"The others and their parents, they listened. Paid attention to our directions. But one of yours didn't. We can't figure out which yet, but our money is on the rich dad."

I closed my eyes, letting out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding again. That was an equivalent to a punch in the gut. I feel Naomi's sharp gaze on me, but I couldn't bring myself to meet it. Guilt ran through my veins. I was clearly at fault, somehow or another, I was the reason for all of this mess.

"Regardless, while we try to figure out logistics, we thought we'd show something to you. One of your parents didn't listen. Tattled on us, told the press. They've both had interviews of your kidnappings. But we were very very interested at how every things unfolded."

I felt my eyebrows come down in confusion. Then both of the men turned their covered faces to Naomi.

"You wanna hear something?" The taller one asked her. She eyed them, her face hard. She didn't move. "Well you're going to hear it anyways."

A button was pushed an a recording came through the crisp air.

"Can you tell us what happened in your own words?" A man's voice said.

"I went to bed late one evening. I always have a habit of checking on my daughter before heading to bed myself, this night was no exception," A very distraught female voice filled the air. Naomi's head snapped to attention, emotion flooding her face. Emotion that instantly gave away it was clearly her mother's voice.

"When I woke up in the morning, her bed was empty. The entire house was empty. Her shoes, her phone everything still in her room."

"So you assumed she had been taken?" the man's voice said again, unmistakably a reporter of some sort.

"Mothers intuition. Something was off. I ran around half of Bristol before calling the cops, searching everywhere. She wasn't anywhere..." the voice trailed off, obviously upset. I watched Naomi's face crumble at her mother's voice. My heart hurt.

A sound of a tape fast forwarding came through the air, then stopped.

"If Naomi was listening to this report, what would you want to say to her?" the reporter asked.

"If by some miracle she was listening to this, i'd want her to know I love her more than life itself. I won't stop looking. You hear me you stubborn little girl? Your mother loves you and I'm not going to stop until I find you. Dead or alive, I promise I'll find you."

"Do you think your daughter is dead Miss Campbell?"

"No, with out a doubt. I would know. I would feel it. She's still out there."

The sound of the recording stopping paused the voices. Naomi's head hung in front of her, her shoulders slumped. All previous hardness vanished.

"Aww, wittle mommy Campbell loves her wittle daughter," the shorter one said, laughing an ugly roar of a laugh. Naomi's head continued to hang, and I felt anger bubble inside of me. What was the point of this? That was pure torture for me to listen to, and it wasn't even my mum.

"Why are you doing this?" I begged, my voice coming out much smaller than I had planned.

The heads turned to me this time.

"This is where the surprise comes in Fitch. The lovely Fitch clan. Stumbling into surprise amounts of cash, floundering in accidental success. Home sweet home, right?" the shorter one said, with a tone to his voice I couldn't place.

I didn't answer.

"A mother's obviously going to worry about her child, yeah?"

I nodded, mutely. Already dreading hearing the sound of my own distraught mother come through the video recorder.

"I bet you've been worried sick about your beloved family searching high and low for you right? I mean, you guys have everything, family included, yeah?"

I couldn't even bring myself to nod this time. A weird numbness entered my system. There was something off about this. I could tell. Naomi's worried glance in my direction proved my instincts right.

"Listen here."

More fast forwarding, then a pause.

"Mr and Mrs Fitch, how does it feel that your daughter was possibly abducted due to your new fortunes?" a different reporters voice hit the air.

"I just don't understand what they would have wanted with Emily," my mum's voice followed shortly after. Only it cut the air like a knife. She didn't sound upset at all. In fact she sounded so devoid of emotion, I only recognized her voice by the accent.

"The daughter of a rich family? It's quite obvious," the reporter offered.

"I have two other children," My mum offered. "I just don't understand why it was Emily."

"Did your daughter have any characteristics to make her stick out?"

"No, not at all. Emily's often disappeared into the crowds. Stray child, that one. My biggest regret is that it was her, she's the least likely to be able to hold her own in a situation like this."

Surprise hit me like a brick. I couldn't immediately place my emotion. Hurt? No. Pain? No. Devastation? Possibly. Devastation at my mum's lack of faith in me running through me like a bad drug.

"You're using past tense," the reporter pointed out.

"Sorry?"

"You're acting as if something has already happened to your daughter."

There was a pause.

"Miss Fitch?"

"I believe my daughter is dead. I would appreciate it if this were my last interview so my family can grieve in peace."

The recording stopped.

The stark difference between my own mum and Naomi's hung in the air. My family, the people I had repeatedly imagined searching high and low for me, had given up. After three months, I suppose it's only natural, but the amount of sad defeat consuming me was too large to fight.

My own head hung, feeling three pairs of eyes burrow into me.

"There you have it," one of them said, almost sounding proud. "You've got a naive hippy mother being the only person searching for you. Your best shot has given up. So I suggest you stop fighting this and let it happen. Start listening to us."

A gloved hand slid under my chin, forcing my face up to look into the dark eyes of the short masked man.

"No one is looking for you anymore. You're ours. Leave your fate to us," he said.

I felt two hot tears trickle down my cheeks. I hadn't even realized I was close to crying. I saw Naomi's face, her anguish evident on her face. I felt torn between fear and emptiness, and I could see the same struggle in her.

The two men, seeming to feel pleased with the turn of events, swiftly gathered a pile of supplies and disappeared into the back of the white van parked about 10 feet from us.

More silence filled the air. My family had given up. I was truly all alone. Completely and entirely alone in this.

"Remember what you told me?" I heard Naomi's desperate voice call out to me. Turning my head to face her, I noticed she had gathered herself again.

I shook my head, unable to make myself speak.

"You told me if you were found, I was found. That still holds true. You are with me, a part of me," she said, strongly. "My companion."

"Your companion," I offered, softly. Trying to find comfort in her words, but coming up empty.

"We just need one parent."

I nodded.

"No, Emily, listen to me."

I looked deep into her eyes. Her hauntingly beautiful eyes, taking in every feature of her face, finally finding a sliver of comfort.

"You said it earlier, we're in this together."

I nodded.

"Say it, out loud. Say it."

"We're in this together," I said quietly.

"I don't believe you."

I cleared my throat, swallowing back more defeated tears. Her resilience finally breaking through my numbness.

"Don't leave me," I sputtered out. A blush flared up my neck. Naomi's face instantly softened.

"That's only what I've been trying to say," she said, her voice calm and soothing. "I'm not leaving you. You're not leaving me. I need you, you need me. Just..."

She trailed off, and I noticed red creeping up her own neck. My mind whirled. Was Naomi blushing? She cleared her throat.

"When ever you're scared...just look at me. My mum always told me that. When ever I was scared, just to find her. She's still out there looking for me, which means she's looking for us. So I'll be your family for now. Just," she cleared her throat again. "Just look at me when you're scared."

The shyness behind that statement surprised me. Naomi was never shy. Always blunt, always so forward. I quickly realized I don't know Naomi, not really. Well, I do, to a very large extent. But the little white rooms we had lived in for the past three months had not only provided us a little bubble from our danger, but from each other. I've learned more about Naomi in the past two days then I ever have.

Both of our heads whipped to the van, where we could hear sounds of metal scraping against each other from inside of it. Fear flew through me, replacing any other emotion. Disabling me from emotion.

I met Naomi's sharp gaze and hoped she was right. Relieve my fear, Naomi. And it was at that moment I realized, with a start, that I had nothing else to depend on.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you thank you again to all you readers and reviewers. Each alert and review make me giddy. I had hoped to respond to more of you individually, but I'm still pretty sick. This chapter took up most of my "awake in between cold medications" time. : ) And also, thanks for the well wishes, I'm glad my illness made someone happy! (And Naoemms for the virtual soup, haha. ) Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Ten**

Naomi and I had been sitting tied to our chairs, a mere five feet apart from each other for at least two hours now. The sun had broken through the morning fog, and was now heavily beating down on us. It wasn't too hot, in three months time it was now early September, but it was hot enough to be uncomfortable. I could feel my skin tightening after little to no sun exposure for such a long period of time.

I looked up at Naomi, noting her pink cheeks, realizing she was growing as uncomfortable as I was. We were literally sitting ducks. We had no idea what was coming next. Neither of us had uttered a word since we heard the numerous bangs coming from the inside of the van. I had no clue what they could be doing in there, and I really didn't want to know. This time, the unknown was the bigger comfort.

I mentally scanned over my body. I felt enormously greasy. Back where we previously had been kept, there was a large sink basin, with wash cloths provided. It was no shower, but I never felt dirty. Especially considering there was nothing to do to get dirty. But now, a few days and a hole in the ground later, I was covered head to toe in grime. I could only imagine how shoddy I looked.

My body lightly ached. I realized, perhaps, I might still possibly be sick. I had a fever right before we moved locations, and have been in a considerable amount of shock since. It's possibly my body "forgot" it was sick, due to the trauma of it all. My nose still ached. I was sure it wasn't broken, but it was a little bit swollen, and most definitely bruised. Although, Naomi hadn't mentioned anything. Then again, she didn't strike me as the kind of person to dwell on those sorts of things.

Physically, I was alright. I could be in much worse shape. Mentally though, I knew I was losing it. I hadn't realized how huge of a hold I had on my family. I had been hanging on by two mere threads: Naomi and my family. It hurt me beyond words that my parents had seemingly given up. A small part of me wondered if Katie had given up as easily. We never really got on too well, but she was my twin. We were once completely together, and I'd like to think that maybe she would instinctively know if I was alive or not. Sort of like Naomi's mum, only with "twin intuition."

The sound of the van doors opening abruptly stopped my thinking. The two figures jumped out, sans their large jackets, but their masks were still in place. I briefly wondered why they were wearing them. Naomi knew them by name, or had at least recognized one of the voices by name. Were they only trying to hide their identity from me? A sudden ripple of fear ran through me.

Naomi was expendable. Or so she had told me. If she was expendable, then it wouldn't matter if she had seen them, would it? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I noticed both men were carrying the growingly familiar white cloths. My eyes grew wide and I instantly saw Naomi's do the same. I shrank into my chair.

"No, please!" Naomi called out frantically, clearly just as scared as I was at the probability of being drugged again.

They continued to walk forward.

"We won't do anything, say anything. You can blind fold us, gag us, but please, just don't drug us again," she rushed out.

The taller man continued, but the shorter one slowed a bit, reaching out his arm to slow the taller guy. He pulled him back and whispered in his ear, peering over to us, and then whispered some more.

"Alright, I don't see any harm in that. Fitch's nose bled last time we did this anyways," the short guy said after a few minutes. What? My nose bled? I guess that would explain the dull pain in it since this all started.

The short guy nodded toward the van, and the taller guy took off.

"We're going to blind fold you. We don't have any gags, but fuck me if I'm not determined to make some if I hear one peep out of you two during the ride," the short guy ordered.

I nodded quickly, seeing Naomi do the same. I felt myself break out in a light sweat. I think it was out of relief. Darkness would be my constant again, but I would at least have my mind with me. It was an enormous relief.

Within minutes, the taller guy returned with two large black knit hats, and two brown paper bags. The fear returned to my system, and I forced myself to meet Naomi's gaze. I found her eyes already set hard on mine.

I didn't see any fear in her eyes, but I saw massive determination. It provided a brief comfort before I was consumed in darkness again. I felt the knit hat placed over my head, and pulled down below my chin. I could still see light through the tiny holes, but even that luxury disappeared when I heard the brown paper bag being placed over the knit hat on my head.

It was hard to breath, but not impossible. I willed myself to keep my breathing even. I felt the rope around my arms loosen, but it wasn't completely removed. Two rough hands pulled me to my feet and began guiding me somewhere. Presumably to the van.

"Step up," I heard the short guy said. Fumbling around, I lifted my leg until I felt it hit the edge of what I'm assuming was the back of the van.

I heard him give the same direction to Naomi. I lifted myself into the van as best I could with my arms still tied behind my back. A hand shoved me hard into my back and I fell forward, slamming hard into the metal bottom of the van, wincing.

I felt Naomi's body tumble in on top of me and the door slam shut.

"Shit, sorry," Naomi said, and she tried to rock her body off of mine. Her voice sounded mere inches from my ear.

"It's not like you shoved yourself onto me," I said, trying to help her ease her body off of me.

Eventually she was able to roll her body off of mine. The engine of the van roared to life and began moving.

"Emily," Naomi whispered.

"What," I whispered back.

"Can you sit up?"

I wiggled around and kicked my feet a bit, realizing I had the space to move and possibly sit myself up.

"I think so."

"Try and sit up, see if you can find and lean against my back. But be quiet."

I nodded, as if Naomi could see me and began to quietly move myself around.

It took some fumbling, and a few misses, but eventually I was able to hoist myself to a sitting position. I could hear Naomi doing the same. I lifted my hands tied behind my back, trying to find anything. I few scoots to the left later, I found Naomi's arm. She immediately moved herself and gripped my hands, pressing her back against mine. She swallowed loudly, letting out a breath.

"Okay listen, I need you to be brave."

"What?" I asked, a little more loudly than I should have, but the tone in her voice shook me.

"I need you to let me see if I can get the rope off your hands," she said.

"What? Are you nuts?" I whispered back.

"Emily, we aren't in our safe rooms anymore. We're in real danger here. They're fucking with us, and it's time we fuck with them. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I said, not missing a beat.

"We should be driving for a while. We have time. If we can get these ropes and masks off, if the car slows enough we can jump out. Then run."

I ran through her impromptu plan in my head. Sure, if we were both in our best condition, we could probably easily out run these guys, given a little bit of a lead. But I was very weak and Naomi's ribs were battered. Even if we flawlessly exited the moving vehicle, it would be a long shot to assume we would be able to out run them for more than a little bit. Not to mention, we didn't know where we were. What if there wasn't anything around? We could only out run them for so long. Especially after not eating for two or three days.

"Do you think we can outrun them?" I asked, voicing my doubts out loud. I heard Naomi sigh.

"No, but what you said earlier really rattled me. We can't just sit here like waiting ducks, waiting for the danger to catch up to us. I refuse to let this be it. I refuse to let this be it with out trying."

The sudden tone change in her voice scared me.

"You act as if we're doing to die."

"I'm in danger, Emily. Me. My priorities are a bit different then yours."

"I already told you I'm not going to..."

"I know," she interrupted me. "I know you will do everything in your power. But what if it's not enough? I need to try something else. I've promised I'd protect you, and I will. If you come with me, if you trust me and help me, I'll protect you. Please, give this a try."

"Is this about your mum?" I asked, the thought occurring to me. Naomi loosened her grip on my fingers, letting out a deep breath. It took her a few seconds to respond.

"I've been horrible to her," she said. "Such a stupid teenager. Took advantage. I need to get out, apologize, see her face again. Anything. I can't die with the guilt of knowing that after i've treated her so horribly, she's still putting everything into looking for me."

I felt two strong emotions surge through me. Painful sadness at Naomi's admission. Even through our quiet whispers, I could hear the honest devastation in her voice. And I also felt a sharp pang in my own heart, that my own mother, after treating me like an insubordinate extra child for years, had given up all hope on me surviving.

"Okay," I said, not even close to being able to resist her.

"Yeah?" she said, sounding suddenly more hopeful.

"Okay, yeah. I'll try, for you," I said. She gripped my fingers tightly again before letting go. I felt her fingers feel around my hands, and the rope surrounding them. After a minute or so, I felt her begin to pick at something.

I heard a grunt of frustration, more pulling, and another grunt. Then, I was shocked to feel the ropes loosen.

"Holy shit," I whispered. I fumbled the rest of the rope off and immediately brought my arms up, quietly removing the paper bag and knit hat off of my face, sucking in a deep breath.

The back of the van was clad with shelves on the sides. Clear buckets lined the shelves and were loaded with numerous items. I could see different ropes, knives nuts and bolts with in the buckets.

"Emily," Naomi's harsh whisper broke my concentration. I quietly shifted around and began pulling at the knots securing Naomi's hands. I managed to loosen them, and while she worked the rest of the rope off, I carefully removed the paper bag and knit hat from her head. I watched her suck in a deep breath as her blond hair fell back down over her face.

She brought her hands up and brushed her hair away from her eyes, shooting me a wry smile.

Her eyes left mine almost immediately and focused on the clear window leading to the front seat where the men were sat. It was small, about a half a foot wide and long. But all it would take was one glance through the window to blow our entire plan. We had to act fast.

"Put the paper bag back on, and sit back against me. We'll wait until the van slows," she instructed.

The last thing I wanted to do was put the bag back on my head, but I knew Naomi's plan was our only current option. I retrieved my bag and placed it back over my head, hesitantly sitting back. Naomi's back flattened against mine.

And we waited. Waiting wasn't even close to a new emotion for either of us. We've been waiting for three months. Waiting to live, waiting to die. Waiting for answers I'm scared we'll never get.

We sat for exactly 24 minutes. I know because I counted to sixty 24 times. In fact, I was so deep into my counting concentration I almost missed the distinct sound of the van slowing. Naomi nudged my back.

"We're slowing," Naomi said. My heart instantly began beating faster. This was it.

The van turned slowly, feeling our bodies shift with the turn. The van corrected out of the turn.

"Now," Naomi said.

My arms whipped up and pulled off my brown paper bag. Naomi was already two steps ahead of me and was working against the back door.

It swung open making a slamming sound as it opened completely. I had taken that into consideration.

"Fuck, move!" I said, pushing my body against Naomi's. I instantly heard voices from the front of the van.

Naomi leaped out of the van, and I didn't even had time to think before I hurdled my body out after hers.

My feet hit the pavement hard and I stumbled forward quite a few steps before I got my footing. I felt Naomi grab under my arm and pull me upright, forcing me into a run.

We took off. My mind numb, my body pummeling faster. My lungs were on fire as my feet, unfamiliar with such extraneous movement, fought against it.

I heard the van screech to a halt and two doors slam shut. Feet pounded hard behind us.

"STOP!" I heard one of the men scream.

I willed my feet to move faster and I saw Naomi chance a glance behind her. Her face was laced with pain. I noticed her hand was gripping her ribs.

The pounding feet behind us got louder. I could hear their breathing, and it was more ragged then ours. I felt a small hint of hope. Maybe we could out run them.

I focused on what was out ahead of me, and I felt like I had been punched in the gut. There was absolutely nothing in front of us. Nothing. Nothing but a rolling road on rolling hills of green. Not even a country house. Not even a random sheep. Nothing. Where the fuck were we?

Naomi slowed her stride next to me, and my protective side flew into gear again. My mind whirled into action.

I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around. The men were no more than twenty feet behind us, and they stopped as abruptly as I did. I heard Naomi stumble to a stop behind me.

"It's your turn to talk," I said, making my voice as hard as it would allow.

Both men were leaning over, trying to catch their breath. They looked up at us after hearing my words.

"We're clearly in better shape. We could out run you. We might be able to do it," I said, not at all sure of what was flying out of my mouth. The taller man started walking toward me. I began walking backwards at the same pace.

I reached Naomi and gripped her forearm tugging her with me.

"You've got no where to run," the taller guy explained calmly.

"Eventually we'll get somewhere."

"I doubt that," he said, his continued calmness grating at my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

"What if we agree to go back with you, in exchange for some answers."

"I don't think you're in the position to be making deals little girl," he said.

"No, she's right. We'll stop this right now if you shed some light on what the fuck is going on," Naomi said, her voice strong. Her ribs must have improved slightly.

I noticed the shorter guy had began following our little parade. Naomi and I walking slowly backward, the two men approaching us just as slowly. A twisted duel, if you will.

"As I said, there is no where to go. So you mine as well stop this stupid little charade and come back here."

"Or what?" Naomi challenged, and I felt my throat constrict at her braveness. "We know we're still stuck with you. We get it now. What we're trying to say is that we won't make you chase us around these hills for a while if you give us some answers. Right here, right now."

"Hold up," the shorter guy called out, causing the taller guy to slow. I tightened my grip on Naomi's arm. "You want answers."

We both nodded our heads.

"That's all?"

"For now," Naomi said.

"We can cut a different deal for answers. We have no problem chasing you around this country side. Our jobs and livelihood depend on you two, don't doubt our priorities. But if it's answers you want, we can work something out."

I got a sour taste in my mouth at the cocky tone in his voice. The last inklings of bravery floating through my veins dissipating at the speed of light.

"What sort of deal?" I asked.

"Naomi," the shorter one called out. Only he wasn't calling her name, he was stating her name.

"Me?" Naomi asked, sounding a bit startled.

"For every question you ask, something happens to Naomi," the short guy said, sounding immensely proud.

My head whipped around to meet Naomi's glance. Fear evident in both of our faces.

"Wh..what?" I asked, my voice catching.

"You ask a question, something happens to Naomi," the taller guy explained slowly, as if talking to a preschool classroom. He began walking slowly to us. Out of instinct, I began moving backwards again, only to be stopped by Naomi.

"Like what?" Naomi asked. The taller man reached us, standing a mere foot away.

Before I could even react he brought his hand down hard onto Naomi's face, smacking her swiftly. I stumbled away in shock, watching Naomi crumble to the floor from the impact. I immediately moved forward to her, but the taller guy lifted his arm, indicating I stand still.

Feeling pure dread, I froze on the spot.

"Like that," he said calmly. "Talk about it amongst yourselves and get back to me."

He walked away from us, and stood next to the shorter guy about 15 feet away from us.

I flew down to Naomi, turning her head to face me. A hand print clear as day on her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, cradling her head in my hands. She nodded and used me as a prop to help herself up.

"I can handle it," Naomi said.

"He obviously smacked every ounce of sense out of you if you think we're going to consider that," I argued, appalled at the thought of actually agreeing to it.

"We can't run," Naomi said, sounding ashamed. "I can't out run them with my ribs. I know that now. But I have a high thresh hold for pain otherwise..."

"Naomi, please, no, we're not considering this," I said, feeling tears spring into my eyes. Fear and anguish making me emotional.

"We don't have to do it for long. We can get in a few good questions before I'm seriously hurt," she insisted.

"No," I said, firmly.

"Yes, Emily. It's our only shot. Answers lead to solutions. It's natural science."

"I don't think...I can't," I said, feeling my voice break up. "I can't watch them hurt you."

Naomi's hard gaze softened.

"I know, but we have to buy ourselves time. That's got to be our new motivation. If they give us answers and we abide by their rules, we can stall them. Find time to figure something out."

"Two questions," I said, almost not believing I was agreeing to this, but once again, Naomi was spot on with her logic. "Three at most, but that's it."

"We'll see about that," Naomi said.

She stood up, pulling me with her.

"We'll do it," she called out, the men's heads snapping to us at her words. It was obvious they didn't expect us to agree. I realized perhaps that was a very good thing. They would be going into this as amateurs too.

"Alright," the shorter guy called out, immediately tugging the taller guy down to whisper more words at him.

My hand instinctively reached out to clutch a few of Naomi's fingers I found during my fumble.

"Be brave, be brave, be brave, be brave," I chanted to myself quiet as a mouse.

"I'm trying," Naomi said.

She paused briefly.

"Unless you're talking about yourself," she said.

I didn't have an answer, because...I had absolutely no fucking clue.


	11. Chapter 11

**Holy smokes! I was stunned by the amount of reviews and alerts. You're making this sick girl very happy. : ) Which yes, still sick, fever has finally managed to stay below 101.0 F over night, wahoo! An in celebration of feeling better, I have another chapter to post. Admittedly...it's a bit darker than the others. But I will say right now, I think I only have a couple more chapters left in mind, give or take. Things WILL improve, they will! Why in the world would I want to piss off everyone reading this? : ) Please stay with me! I actually do promise not to make you want to bang your head into a wall (unless you're OnTheSly and you already want to bang your head into a wall because of the tension : )) **

**Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly Chapter 11**

I watched helplessly as they tied Naomi up to the chair, similarly to the way we had been tied up a mere few hours before.

I was left standing off to the side. My body shaking with fear, literally shaking. I could feel sweat on my forehead and the back of my shirt clinging to my body. I was baffled at how calm Naomi appeared. She looked terrified, but calm. A mix that doesn't seem possible, yet it was playing out in front of my eyes.

I almost wished I was tied up too. Guilt was riddling my body as I stood, free of any holdings, waiting to watch Naomi get hurt.

Shortly before the men had disappeared into the truck to "talk," or so they had said, they had handed me a bottle of water and four slices of thick bread . I briefly wondered why they had been dumb enough to leave us alone outside again with me free to flee, but then I realized with a start that they weren't as dumb as I had originally assumed.

They knew. They knew I would never leave Naomi's side. I could run, hypothetically speaking, I could take the food and the water and make a break for it. I was shaky and exhausted, but I could do it. The problem was, even the thought of leaving Naomi made my whole chest constrict. Actually carrying it out would probably be the death of me. It almost frightened me how attached I was to her.

Snapping back to attention, I quickly walked over to Naomi. As I walked the 15 feet to her chair, I cracked open the bottle of water and easily chugged half of it down in a few gulps.

"Tip your head back," I instructed, once I reached her, lifting the half-filled water bottle up to her lips. They wrapped around the neck of the bottle and she tipped her head bag, glugging the water almost faster than I had.

I held out the two pieces of bread, and she shook her head.

"You need to eat," I insisted.

"So do you," she countered.

"We both do."

Forcing myself to embrace the comfort of this calm moment, I crouched down next to her, my eyes level with her shoulder. I placed the bread on my leg, picking up two pieces. I bit a chunk out of one and held the other piece up to Naomi's mouth, feeling her take a bite.

The bread was thick in my mouth. The half a bottle of water not nearly enough to make up for my dehydration. I forced myself not to gag as I chewed.

I hesitantly took another bite and wiggled Naomi's piece in front of her mouth indicating she do the same.

"At least it has no peanut butter on it," I offered. I swear a saw a glint of a smile reach her face.

"What are we going to ask?" she asked, once she managed to swallow.

My brain had been so preoccupied with Naomi's potential danger, it hadn't even crossed my mind about what to ask. I was repetitively drawing up blanks.

"I don't know," I said, panic lacing my voice.

The van door swung open and I shot back up straight as a whip. My eyes squeezed shut. Fuck.

"Fitch, stand here," The shorter guy said as he came toward us. The taller guy soon following.

I walked over directly across from Naomi, where he had pointed. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling it churn.

The taller man walked toward Naomi and stood straight next to her. He squatted down and reached his hands out to Naomi's shirt. We both visibly flinched when his hands made contact with her body. My own body began trembling again.

He carefully rolled up her shirt, exposing her bare stomach. I watched the soft muscles in her stomach quiver, the pale skin shaking. I noted, with faint shock, the huge bruise taking over the right side of her stomach by her ribs. It was ugly blue and purple. Fresh. He brushed off his knees and stood up again, reaching behind his back.

He pulled out a knife and my stomach dropped. Naomi's revere broke, her eyes growing wide.

With out thinking, I took a step forward, only to be pulled back harshly by the shorter guy, who was behind me in a flash.

"I'm assuming you've gathered how this is going to work," the shorter guy said, his hot breath wafting into my ear. I shuddered involuntarily. "That bruise is Perry's carving campus."

I had to force myself to keep from snapping my neck around to look at the shorter guy. Perry? The taller guy's name was Perry, or he went by Perry. What a second, carving campus? My heart thumped.

"For every question, Perry is going to drag this knife across her bruise. I might mention this is a newly sharpened carving knife. It sliced through that thick bread, I noticed you two failed to finish eating, like paper. Which is rude by the way," he said, chuckling at his ridiculous joke. "I'm guessing it won't have to work much to slice through skin."

A cold rip of fear flashed through my system, and Naomi visibly paled. Her eyes locked with mine. I held her gaze, trying to be brave.

"Fitch, you're going to ask the questions. Ask as many as you want. I'm confident you'll know when Campbell's had enough," he said, then turned to look at Naomi. "Now Campbell, don't worry about screaming too loudly. No one can hear you."

My eyes once again helplessly scanned our surroundings. There literally was nothing in sight. Possibly something beyond the rolling hills to our left, I could see scads of trees just over it, but it was heartbreakingly true. There was nothing within a 20 mile radius of us. No hope.

"Ask carefully," the shorter guy said into my ear and walked to stand off to the side between Naomi and Perry and myself.

I closed my eyes, willing my brain to function. We needed answers. I need to ask the right questions. There was only one question floating around in my mind. A big ol' fucking WHY. But that was far too vague.

"We don't have all fucking day," Perry snapped, toying with the edge of the knife in his hands. Knowingly taunting both of us.

"You mentioned others," I blurted out, forcing my brain to focus on details. "What happened to the others."

The short guy slowly turned his head from Naomi to look at me.

"Stupid question," he laughed. "I've already answered that. Their parents listened to the directions. They listened to the rules. We got what we were after, and we let them go home."

I couldn't help but let my jaw drop open in shock. Naomi's race registered equal surprise.

"You let them go?" I asked.

Another snide chuckle filled the air.

"Yes, we let them go."

The shorter guy turned his head to Perry and nodded.

"That's two cuts," he said.

"What?" Both Naomi and I shouted at once. The fear echoing in the air.

"You just asked two questions. One cut for each."

Oh, fuck. I instantly felt nauseous. Even worse, the guilt just about knocked me over. I had stupidly asked two questions. Two very stupid questions. Naomi's eyes locked with mine, and I saw her waver. Her stomach quivered and her shoulders shook. Her face was blank, but her body was giving her away.

Perry reached across Naomi, moving the tip of the knife to touch the left side of Naomi's bruise, twirling it. I was frozen, literally frozen. As fast as a flash he quickly whipped the knife across her bruise.

Naomi hissed out in pain, her head dropping from the shock of it all. I watched in horror as a very thin line of red appeared across the bruise. It was about four inches long. She choked out a breath and sucked in another one, holding it. She lifted her head again, jaw clenched. Waiting for the second slash.

Perry reached his arm across Naomi again and I broke.

"No!" I screamed out. "No, stop, don't."

"Had enough already?" Perry asked, amusement dancing in his voice. "Hear that Leo? They've had enough."

"Emily," Naomi chastised, her voice harsh and low.

I lifted up my shirt, revealing my own torso.

"Cut me too," I said strongly. "Equal punishment."

"No can do sweetheart, we need you completely intact."

"Why?" I cried out, and instantly brought my hand up to clamp over my mouth. Three questions.

The shorter guy, Leo, turned his head calmly to me again.

"You weren't supposed to be kidnapped. We got the wrong girl. Until we figure out what to do, we are ordered to keep you safe. To avoid any trouble if were caught."

I felt my body sway. That's why I was the mistake. I wasn't even supposed to be here. By some awful, horrible twist of fate, I had ended up standing in the middle of the countryside begging to take cuts for my friend, when I should be home. Safe and sound. The irony was rushing through my veins. I couldn't deal with it.

Before I could even react, Naomi let out a shrill of a scream. My eyes darted to her stomach and noticed two more thin lines of red on her stomach. I heard her sniffle, catching a stray tear falling down her face.

"But it's not fair," I yelled, entirely aware of how childish I sounded. I didn't care. I was absolutely positive I was going to pass out from guilt and exhaustion if I watched this for any longer.

"Life isn't fair. Someone fucked up, and we're all paying for their mistake," Leo said, actually sounding resentful.

"So you're taking your anger out on us, yeah?" I asked.

Perry's arm twitched forward.

"That was rhetorical," I spat. Naomi cleared her throat, catching my gaze again. She subtly shook her head, almost begging me to stop. But, I didn't know if I could. Adrenaline was controlling my movements now, not me. "Listen to me, what ever you're waiting for, we both know it's going to be a while before it happens. Scars heal. Everything heals. I can heal. Please, just don't hurt her anymore."

I swallowed, my throat sore from yelling.

"You're willing to take the hits for Naomi?" Leo asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"No, she isn't," Naomi's weak voice cut through the air.

"Yes, I am," I countered strongly.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"I'll answer for a cut-free question," I said.

I watched Naomi's eyebrows raise and Leo's masked head tilt to the side.

"Sure," he said, sounding amused.

"You said it, we're all paying for this mistake, only Naomi and I are on one side of the fence and you bastards are on the other. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. And right now, in this situation, she's like my left kidney. Completely vital for a proper survival. Her pain is mine anyways, so why not save her another scar?"

"Interesting," Leo said.

"Now my question."

He nodded.

"Who are you working for?"

There was a long pause. Not a sound was uttered.

"A man known as Mr. White. He's the fucked up man who orchestrated this entire thing. He's the one whose decision on how to clean this mess up decides your future life paths," Leo answered simply.

"What about your future paths? Where do you go from here?" I asked, the thought coming into my mind. Actions had consequences, and if caught, these two would suffer some consequences. I needed to get into their heads, the way they got into mine and Naomi's with those family video reports.

"Mr. White has assured us that if we follow protocol..." Perry started.

"Then what? What happens? You don't really know, because for all you know you could be instructed to kill us both in an hour. Then you'd have blood on YOUR hands, not Mr. White's."

I watched as Leo clenched his fists. I clenched mine back, trying to keep my anger down.

"We're his employee's, he..." Leo started.

"And we're your kidnapped victims. Basic hierarchy rules. You don't give a flying fuck about us, so what makes you think he actually gives a flying fuck about you?"

Leo rolled his head, cracking his neck a few times. Unclenching then clenching his fists.

"Every man for himself on top," I said, utterly shocked at my own words. It's amazing what can come out of your mouth when you're wound up tight as a spring.

"Next question?" Leo asked, a particular tone to his voice. A tone that depleted some of my adrenaline. I was poking a sleeping bear, I knew it. The consequences to my actions were about to catch up with me.

"Why is Naomi expendable?" I managed to gag out, fear rapidly replacing every emotion in my body.

"She's not. But her safety depends on yours," Leo answered walking slowly over toward me.

Relief flooded my body. Naomi had interpreted it wrong. She wasn't lined up to die.

I didn't even have time to to register my relief in capacity because the air was knocked out of my lungs. I doubled over in pain.

Leo had punched me square in the stomach, knocking the breath out of me. I opened my mouth in attempts to suck in my breath and felt a searing pain on my head as I was shoved to the ground.

I barely managed to suck in a few puffs of air before I felt another hard blow to my lower back.

I yelled out in pain. I could vaguely hear Naomi shouting, as a loud ringing was quickly taking over my eardrums.

I felt another blow to my back, and another. I was choking and sputtering, consumed with total fear that I wasn't going to be able to take in another breath.

I felt someone lift my body and my back slammed against something metal. The van. Leo's hand instantly at my throat.

"Five questions, five consequences," he hissed out at me. Onions on his breath. "I've realized you're right. Bruises heal. Wounds heal. Everything heals. Maybe we don't need to be so careful with you anymore. With a mouth like yours, you're just asking for it. And here I thought Campbell was the fiery one. You might be a mistake, but trust me, you're no longer special to me. I'll continue to follow orders. You'll stay alive. But don't FUCK WITH ME."

He shouted the last part in my ear, forcing me to shut my eyes in pain. The ringing in my head grew louder. I realized I hadn't been breathing and sucked in a breath, pain ripping up my spine. I coughed out the breath and Leo let go of my neck. My body tumbled to the ground.

I lifted my head and looked over to Naomi. She was as leaned forward as her body would let her in the chair, tears streaming down her face, her mouth moving. Shouting. Only I couldn't hear her words. Everything was dulled out by the ringing in my head. I tried to gather my body, but I was numb.

The sides of my vision started to get fuzzy. I struggled to keep my eyes open. Forcing myself to even my breathing out After a few breaths, I realized the ringing was beginning to lessen.

I could hear Leo's footsteps, a mere few feet away from my head, walking back and forth. Then his ragged breathing came into focus.

A shrill ring pierced the air, only this time, it wasn't in my head. It was a cell phone.

"Yeah," I heard Perry say, presumably into the mobile.

"Uh huh."

"No, we've still got them."

"We're on the correct back road, we've just hit a little road block."

"We've got in under control."

"Yes, boss."

"I reckon were about 40 minutes out from there."

"Right away, boss."

"I understand. We're on it."

I faintly heard from shuffling, and I forced myself to open my eyes. I watched Perry move swiftly over to Leo.

"It's all arranged. We have to be there before nightfall. They're switching us vehicles."

I tried to take in another breath, but the pain in my body prevented me from being able to, and I sputtered out some coughs. I closed my eyes from the impact, wrapping my arms around my torso in attempts to relieve the pain.

When I opened them, my body went frigid. Leo was standing above me with a white cloth in hand.

"Nighty night Fitch."

And it all went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**Whoaaaa whoa, record feedback this time! Sheesh, I'm really keeping you lot on your toes, aren't I? Hmm. I'll take it as a compliment that many of you said the chapter was hard to get through, even though I did feel bad. This chapter is a softy in comparison, but don't get too comfortable. : ) Feeling lots and lots better, can probably return to my real life tomorrow and venture out of this bed. **

**All of you reviewers, alerters and readers are awesome. I can't put it into words. Thanks for the encouragement. I hope you keep enjoying it! There's definitely...more to come. : )**

**Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Twelve**

My finger twitched. Then my face itched. I went to stretch out my hand, but was overcome by two very distinct feelings: one of great pain and one of my hand crashing into something cool and hard.

I opened my eyes and was, once again, met with complete darkness. I groaned before I could hold the sound back. My entire lower back was on fire, my heart thumping pain to it with every beat. Throbbing. My head had an admittedly lesser ache, but it was still adding to the crescendo of noise that was my pain.

I rolled onto my back and realized I was laying on something hard. Bringing my hands down, I splayed them flat on what felt like...linoleum? I trailed my fingers back and forth on the cool, hard surface and tried to grip my surroundings.

Naomi had been cut. I had opened my big, fat mouth and suffered the consequences. Then I had been drugged. Again.

I brought my hand up to my nose and didn't feel any crusted blood. I almost let out a sigh of relief, but even breathing hurt.

Suddenly a specific sound flooded my ears. Sniffling. Someone was crying. It sounded like a girl, which only meant one thing.

"Naomi?" I called out into the darkness, my voice hoarse. The sniffling halted abruptly.

"You're awake?" she asked, surprised.

"Seems to be the case, although I wish I wasn't," I said, trying to joke about my pain. Naomi wasn't stupid, she had bruised ribs. She would understand exactly what pain I was in.

Naomi didn't respond, only silence filled the room. I tried to sit up, realizing her voice was to my left and little higher up than mine. Pain roared up my back and I eased my self back down, biting my lip in attempts not to cry out.

"Why did you do that?" Naomi said. The tone of her voice almost caused a shudder to pass through me. She sounded completely, totally and utterly busted.

"Do what?" I asked, closing my eyes and swallowing. Willing the pain away.

"All of it. You're not invincible Emily. You really scared the shit out of me. I...," she trailed off and cleared her throat. "I thought they were going to kill you."

A new wave of a familiar emotion rattled me: guilt. I had done everything in my honest power to save Naomi. Trying to save her from getting cut, trying to get answers. But all I did was upset her. Scare her.

"I don't know what came over me," I tried to explain.

"Yes you do," Naomi said, exasperated. She read through my lie like it was a piece of rice paper.

The throbbing in my body intensified, the effects of the drugs were wearing off. I heard myself whimper.

"Here is the vicodin. Perry filled the bottle. Six each for us for now. I've taken my dose," Naomi said. I felt her hand softly brush the side of my face as her hand reached down and set the bottle down on the floor beside my head.

I picked up the bottle and dropped one pill into my hand. I broke it in half and swallowed each half one at a time. Screwing the cap back on the bottle, I rested my head on the floor again.

Suddenly, light flooded into the room. Out of instinct, I sat up fast, wincing at the pain. Perry was standing at the door. My eyes flashed around the room and I realized we were in a bathroom. I was laying on the floor and Naomi was sitting in the bathtub. Perry through two objects into the bathroom.

"Two sandwiches," he explained, and the door slammed shut. A locking sound filling the air. We were encased in blackness again.

"Were in a bathroom?" I blurted out.

"Seems to be the case," Naomi said, repeating my earlier words. She was annoyed with me. Annoyed and upset.

I leaned my head back onto the floor. The throbbing in my body and head becoming too much. Now with the added knowledge that Naomi was upset with me, I felt tears flood my eyes. Two ran down my cheeks, quickly followed by another two. I tried breathing through my mouth, as to not give away my crying.

"Don't do that," Naomi said, her voice softer. I shouldn't have underestimated her ability to read my sounds like a book.

"I'm sorry," I whispered out.

"Can you sit up? Where does it hurt?"

"Just my lower back really."

"They kicked you there, three times they kicked you there," Naomi said, her voice breaking.

"Nothing's broken, just bruised. The vicodin will help," I said, trying to assure her. Forever trying to assure her.

"Can you get into the tub?"

"What? But you're in the tub," I said, stupidly.

"Right," Naomi stated. "Can you get into the tub?"

I realized it was more of a request than a question.

"I think I can manage," I said, lifting myself to a sitting position again. The throbbing had already died down considerably. Reaching out, my hands came in contact with a very cool surface, undeniably the bathtub.

I used the edge of the tub to pull myself into a standing position. I wobbled like a toddler learning to walk. Fucking darkness. It's completely debilitating.

"Here," I heard Naomi say. Her hands fumbled out and came into contact with my forearms, still using the tub as a leverage.

I carefully stepped one foot over the edge of the tub and got the other one to follow. I sat down indian style in the tub, with my knees propped on up the edges on either side. Staring out into the blackness. Staring out to where I was mentally imagining Naomi's eyes staring back into mine.

"How's your stomach?" I asked, trying to swallow back the instant nausea I felt remembering that moment in time.

"It's really not that bad, the cuts have already scabbed over. They weren't that deep."

"Weren't that bad? Naomi! He cut you!" I squealed out, surprised at her lackadaisical attitude.

"It's better than getting my kidney's pounded out for flapping my jaw," she quipped. Still angry. I knew she wasn't truly angry, just frustrated at my stupidness. She was now currently flapping her own jaw because she was actually scared. Hiding her fear with anger. I knew what she was doing. I wasn't going to call her out on it.

"I'm sorry," I said, not knowing many other words to say.

"Don't do that again, please," she begged. I nodded my head, as if she could see me. "If you want to do something drastic, that's fine, but just inform me first. You want to protect me, but how can I protect you back if I don't know what you're doing?"

I reached out into the blackness and my hands met her pant-clad ankles. I squeezed.

"I was angry. So angry at not knowing. So angry at them for showing us our family's news reports. So angry for constantly fucking with us. I think I wanted to fuck with them back," I admitted.

"Your words are useless to them. Our power has to come from somewhere else," she said. She'd clearly been awake for longer than I had and thought about things.

"I know," I said quietly.

"How's your back?"

"The vicodin is helping a lot," I said, honestly. The throbbing had dulled even more.

"We should rest. Then I have a plan," Naomi said, her voice hard.

"What?" I asked, goose bumps raising on my arms at her tone.

"I know your little fire-ball tendencies Emily. This plan will stay in my head until you've rested and your back feels better," she said, changing her tone.

I moved to get out of the tub, but Naomi's hand shot out and managed to grip my wrist.

"What?"

"Just...just stay in here with me," she said, shy Naomi sneaking back. She doesn't come out often, and it never fails to shock me every time.

"A bathtub hardly has room for two," I said, fighting it. For some reason the thought of sleeping so close to Naomi made me uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, just...in a way.

"And a hard floor is hardly the place for someone with a back injury to be sleeping. Seriously. All oddness aside, you should use me as a pillow. It'll help me to have you near and your back can rest. I will be able to think," she said, her voice insistent.

As usual, I was never able to deny Naomi anything. I turned myself awkwardly in the tub. Naomi's hands made their way onto my shoulders and eased me back onto her torso.

I instinctively crossed my arms in front of my body and Naomi casually, as if I were her favorite stuffed animal, draped her arms over mine. Her chin made it's way to the crook of my neck.

It was actually rather comfortable. Naomi was right, she was a far better pillow than a hard floor. The vicodin was making me sleepy, probably due to not eating. I closed my eyes and tried to even my breathing out. Just before I fell into sleep, I felt Naomi's breath by my ear.

"Thank you. I needed to feel you alive after that. I really thought you were going to die. He was so angry," she whispered.

I didn't have any words. Guilt racked my body again. I merely slid one of my arms to lie on top of hers and scooted back a little bit. Sleep finally taking over.

"Wake up girlies!" A voice cut through the room like ice. I jumped, and noted the subtle pain in my lower back still. Light flooded the room and just before I closed my eyes from the light obstruction, I saw Naomi's hands fly off of my stomach to grip the edge of the bathtub.

"Aww isn't that cute," Perry said, tilting his head mockingly. He still had the mask on, to which I didn't see any point. We already heard their voices.

"Shut up," Naomi said. She brought her hands down to my hips, wrapping her fingers around them and pushing me slightly forward. Being cautious of my back.

I took the cue and scooted myself forward to the rest of the way. I couldn't help but frown back to Naomi in confusion. The roles have reversed again. Fiery Naomi was out to play.

"We've had a lengthy phone conversation with Mr. White," Perry explained, ignoring Naomi's sass. "He's figured out a few things. Answered a few of our questions."

Naomi and I caught each other's gazes from across the bathtub. Hers was an expression of hidden, unadulterated fear. I'm sure mine mirrored it. Answers for them never meant anything good for us.

"Campbell, we're going to call your mum," Perry said. I heard Naomi gasp in a breath of air.

"What?" her shocked voice gave herself away.

"It seems to us your mum didn't even get our directions. You see, we've been doing this for quite some time. Kidnapping children of parents who aren't well known but can pay the fee. We give them simple directions, things to do, places to be. The biggest direction is to keep silent. Fitch's parents didn't get their note either, but that's because it wasn't supposed to be her. But we've already covered that. Our money was on the rich dad who broke the silence...now we know it was neither of them did it intentionally."

My mind whirled with the new information. They've been doing this for sometime? Fuck. No wonder they were so messed up. They have an entire organization designed to do this. It also really explained our current situation. A seemingly flawlessly functioning thing as this would be bound to implode if something went wrong. It taps into every dangerous zone it could.

"We still don't have directions about you Fitch. Your parents are wealthy, and well known. This presents a number of problems."

"After three months you still don't know how to fix it?" snapped Naomi. My head flew around to look at hers, my stomach clenching. What was she doing? I instantly felt a bought of something. It sort of smelled like karma. Is this how she felt when I was flapping off at these guys? The nervous jitters flying through me were phenomenal.

"We were hoping for the press to die down, waiting it out, not that it's any of your business."

"Of course it's our business, it's our lives you're messing around with," Naomi said her voice much calmer, but her words just as harsh.

"I don't have time for these shenanigans. The point is we're calling your mum to let her know what's going on. She has no chance in hell of finding you, so it won't hurt. Plus, we'll call this payback for yesterday."

He lurched forward quickly and both Naomi and I instinctively crouched into our ends of the bathtub. He reached for Naomi, catching both of her wrists in one swift movement, slapping handcuffs on them. A new sense of dread washed through me. Leo was all face and brawn, but Perry...he really was swift. Awful images of him with his knife hit me like a rock. He knew was he was doing. Quick and dangerous.

He picked Naomi up like a rag doll and threw her over his shoulder. Naomi caught my gaze and I couldn't think, I only reacted.

"You cant separate us!" I yelled.

Perry froze and turned around. His hand was placed precariously on Naomi's bum. He caught my gaze, looked at his hand and then back at me. I swore I could see a smile underneath his mask, anger surged through me.

"And why not?"

"You'll only have to deal with more trouble if you separate us," I said, trying to use logic. Logic seemed to mess with these two.

"While I believe it, I'm worried you'll taunt poor Leo out there. Gave his ego quite the bruise yesterday," Perry said.

"Oh fuck off!" I heard Leo gruff from outside the bathroom.

"I won't say a word," I promised.

"Alright, we need to watch you two eat anyways. It's been days since you've had proper food," Perry said, his voice lightening.

God, this whole this was so confusing. One minute they're kicking the shit out of us, and the next they're berating us for not eating.

I followed Perry out of the bathroom into what I immediately knew was a hotel room. A disgusting hotel room. I was almost happy we had been residing in dark in the bathroom, I bet that place was a pit hole.

Perry threw Naomi's body down onto the bed. I heard her catch her breath. I knew her ribs were hurting her less, but the pain wasn't gone entirely. I carefully walked to the bed and sat down myself, watching Leo the whole time. He was staring daggers through me. If looks could kill...I instantly swallowed. That wasn't even funny to think about.

Perry walked back into the bathroom and brought out our sandwiches we hadn't eaten from before. As he walked them over to us, Leo grabbed one. He quickly unwrapped the plastic wrap, lifted the top and spit into the sandwich, then wrapped it back up.

"That one is for Fitch," he said with a snarl.

Perry walked over and handed us our respective sandwiches. I didn't want to eat it, but the second the food was in my hand my stomach grumbled so loudly I couldn't ignore it.

Leo and Perry got themselves into a little argument and Naomi's hand brushed my arm. She was handing me a half of her sandwich, then grabbed half of mine, placing it on the plastic in her lap. She wordlessly indicated I eat up, which I did with out question. I wolfed down my half of the sandwich, hardly tasting it. Naomi awkwardly ate hers with her handcuffs still in place.

"Fitch, give me your arms," Perry said, suddenly appearing by my side with my own handcuffs. He didn't wait for a response, ruffly grabbing my own and cuffing me, linking one of my my cuffs to one of Naomi's. They were painfully right on my wrist, digging into the flesh.

"Now you two are well and truly stuck together," he sniggered. Naomi flinched, causing the metal to dig into my skin, which caused me to flinch. This was not a good situation.

Leo then came around with what I immediately knew were two make-shift gags. I felt my eyes grow wide with fear.

Naomi moved to protest, her hands flying up, causing mine to fly up and the metal to once again dig into my flesh. I felt it break the skin.

Two hands wrapped around my neck, forcing it still. I'm not sure what made me do it, but I jutted my lower jaw forward and stuck out my tongue as the gag was being place on my face. When all was said and done, I realized I wasn't completely "gagged." It was loose around my neck, I could lose it.

All movements from Naomi and I were ceased as a cell phone was lifted into the air by Leo. The blue light showing white digits typed into the screen. A telephone number.

Leo pressed send. Then another button. Ringing filled the air. He had put it on speaker phone.

"Hello, how may I help you?" A voice came through the line, a voice I recognized. Naomi's mum.

"Is this Miss Campbell?" Leo asked, his voice startlingly polite.

"Yes this is, who would this be?"

"That's irrelevant, I was just calling you to inform you I had your daughter in my custody at the moment and if you listen carefully to what I say, you might get to see her again."

A chill flew down my spine at how robotic that line sounded.

I could hear quiet sputtering over the speaker. I felt Naomi grip her hands into fists.

"You have Naomi?" her mum's incredibly shocked voice finally said.

"We do. You didn't get our instructions before Miss Campbell. You went to the press and the police. That was a big no no," Leo said calmly.

"What?" she said, if possible even more surprised.

"We're looking for a little something Miss Campbell."

"What? What are you looking for?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Twenty thousand."

I heard Naomi intake a sharp breath of air, then she started coughing due to her gag. Leo covered up the microphone on the phone, to block out the sound.

"Twenty thousand, I don't have that kind of money."

"Don't lie to us," Leo said, calmly once Naomi had stopped coughing. "We know about your trust fund. From your granddad. The trust fund that's been building a load of interest over the years."

There was a gasp over the line. And another from Naomi.

"How do you know about that?"

"We have our ways."

Another chill flew down my spine. Fuck. This situation grew bigger every day. What else did they know?

"That account is supposed to pay for Naomi's Uni tuition," her mum admonished.

"Right, right, Naomi got herself into quite a few good schools," Leo said, sneaking a glance at Naomi. My gaze turned to her. Her eyes were to the brim with tears, her neck burning red.

"Why are you doing this?" Her mum said, with a tone to her voice that was so identical to Naomi's it was almost scary. Like mother like daughter.

"The way we see it, that money was going to be used for Naomi anyways. So, now you can look at it this way, instead of it being used for her tuition. It will be used to save her life."

"Save her life?" her mum said, her voice cracking again. My heart hurt for her. My heart hurt for Naomi, whose fists were now clenched so tight her knuckles were turning white.

"You are going to receive a post package with instructions on how to get the money to us. I'm merely calling to make sure you're going to do as we say and to remind you not to tell a soul this call ever happened," Leo said.

Something of a growl came out of Naomi, her body shifting, causing the cuffs on my hand to grip into the fresh cuts on my wrist. I cried out in pain, the sound much louder than anyone in the room anticipated.

"Naomi?" her mum said over the phone, obviously having heard my muffled cry. Leo covered the phone with his hand, and slid a finger under his neck, silently telling me to shut the fuck up.

"Naomi, are you there love? Talk to me!"

"She's a bit indisposed at the minute," Leo said into the receiver.

"Indisposed my arse, let me talk to my daughter. You want your money, you'll get it, but let me talk to Naomi!" her mum yelled, and I instantly understood where Naomi got her flair from.

Naomi cried out against her gag, sending her into a coughing fit. A tear streamed down her face and I felt that protective side of me edging up again.

"Naomi!" her mum cried out again.

"Miss Campbell, I'd advise you to stay calm. You aren't in control here," Leo explained.

Control? No one has control in this situation, not even them. In a flurry of emotions, my capacity to stop myself completely dismantled by Naomi's mother's distraught voice, I wiggled my neck and shook the gag loose.

"Miss Campbell, Naomi's fine! She's right here next to me!" I shouted, shocking the shit out of everyone in the room. "Don't give up, she's still alive!"

Leo flipped the phone shut.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said calmly. The tone of his voice just about cutting me in half.

Naomi must have heard it too because she quickly gripped one of my hands.

His eyes dug into mine, his nostrils flaring.

Oh. Fuck.


	13. Chapter 13

**Once again, unfortunately for me, but fortunately for you readers, I'm still sick. I was officially "diagnosed" with a pretty brutal bacterial thing, with the request to stay off my feet and finish off my antibiotics course for a few more days. Leaving me once again, bored and lonely during the days. So, here is another chapter. Adding fuel to the fire, so to speak. So so happy to hear everyone is still enjoying it. I've gotten a few people mentioning the "V for Vendetta" plot line, which made me laugh, because I honestly hadn't even considered that. And some other guesses as well! I feel like some of you are thinking about this more than myself! Keep the ideas coming, I thoroughly enjoy them, and might incorporate a thing or two in here. **

**That being said, being stuck in a bed all day is quite boring. Since i've started posting on here, i've began reading quite a few stories. Any amazing recommendations for someone a bit new to the scene to send my way? I'm always up for a good read. **

**Skins isn't mine**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Thirteen**

Leo slowly walked toward Naomi and I cuffed to each other on the bed. I couldn't even feel anything at the moment. Not even fear. Everything was blowing out of my control so quickly, I couldn't process it.

"Leo, don't," Perry said, almost in a bored tone. He was even picking at the dirt under his finger nails as he said it.

"You're going to fuck everything up," Leo said to me. His voice level was calm, but his words weren't.

I riled him up. Just my presence riled him up. I had gotten under his skin. It occurred to me that this might be a weakness. A weakness I could play too.

He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small hand gun, and that numb feeling disappeared. Fear hit me full force. I had a complete out of body experience. How did I go from stupid college student, to living in a white room, to sitting on a bed, handcuffed to a girl with a gun being drawn out?

"Leo, honestly," Perry said, trying to reason with him. It wasn't to protect us though, I knew it. It was to protect him. They were following directions, and somehow I don't think this was following directions.

Leo pointed the gun at me.

"Last time I checked, you don't need two knee caps," he said to me again. His arm was shaking. My body shaking right along with him. Fear couldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. You think you know how you'd respond when you have a gun pointing at you, but you can't really. Not until it happens. Right now, in this moment, the only thought going through my head was to keep the attention on me, and off of Naomi. Telling myself only one of us needed to be able to get away. Only one.

I snuck a glance over to Naomi, but her eyes were fixed elsewhere. I didn't have time to figure out where she was looking. She was probably avoiding watching the inevitable. I didn't blame her, I don't think I could handle watching her get shot at either.

Leo clicked the safety off the gun. My toes curled, knees lifting up protectively to my chest.

"Leo!" Perry said a little bit louder this time, finally moving from his position of leaning against the bathroom door frame. "We're in a public place. Gun shots are loud."

Leo's finger snuck around to the trigger, and I felt the blood drain from my face. His arm was shaking so terribly, anything could happen. I scrunched my eyes shut, shoving my face into Naomi's shoulder.

Then everything happened in a whirlwind of movement.

Perry's arm came down onto Leo's so fast the sound cracked through the room, following by the gun ricocheting off the floor close behind. In a flash Leo turned around, his back to us and slammed his hand down hard on Perry's neck. He flopped down cold.

I didn't even have time to react because pain rippled through my wrist as my hands were tugged out from in front of me. Naomi leaned over the bed and grabbed what appeared to be an iron rod sitting against it. My body rag dolled with her movements, and some how, even with my dead weight, she threw herself onto her knees on the bed and brought the iron rod down onto Leo's head. Hard.

There are no words to describe the noise made between a skull and an iron rod, but it almost made me gag. Leo's body slumped down beside Perry's, blood running down the back of his head.

I screamed out of instinct. It was a few seconds delayed, but the shock had paralyzed me. I looked over at my hands, dangling helplessly from the cuffs, which were dangling from Naomi's hands, which were still held above her head with the blood covered iron rod.

Her face was white as a ghost and frozen in shock.

"Naomi," I whispered loudly, moving to lower my hands and in turn, hers, but they wouldn't budge. She remained frozen.

"Naomi!" I shouted at regular level, finally snapping her out of it.

"I didn't mean to...I just," she stuttered, and my heart clenched. She sounded like a scared young child who lost her parents in a market.

A cell phone ring sent a shrill sound into the room silencing both of us. Nothing could be heard aside from our ragged breathing. Both of our heads turned to the mobile, shaking and vibrating on top of the hotel dresser.

The ringing stopped.

I let out a sigh of relief.

The phone started ringing again.

Both of our heads snapped toward Perry and Leo's bodies collapsed on top of each other on the floor. The smell of blood was beginning to penetrate the room. I felt my gag reflex begging to come out. A buzz of energy flew through me.

"We have to get out of here," I said frantically. We had maybe minutes before something happened.

The phone rang again, finally putting some life back in Naomi's face. She flushed red and nodded at me.

"Where are the keys?" she asked.

I glanced around the room when I heard Naomi gasp.

"Fuck. I think they're in Perry's pocket," she said, her voice low.

"What?" I asked, stupidly. Of course they were on one of the guys. It was actually a very logical place to look.

"We have to do it," Naomi said.

I knew she was right.

She carefully stepped one foot off the bed and onto the floor. I moved toward her on the bed as she stepped her second foot on the floor.

"Bend with me," she instructed as she leaned over, pausing as her hands hovered cautiously over Perry.

I held my breath. This was a moment that would decide our fate. Even more than the last.

As I leaned over the bed, our hands carefully moved toward his pocket. I was careful to keep mine in tiny fists, biting my lip as the metal dug painfully into my cuts.

Naomi's long fingers trailed into his pocket.

"Fuck, they aren't in there," she whispered, exasperated.

The phone rang again, and we both jumped hard. My eyes flew to the bodies, which both laid, dead to the world, so to speak.

"Turn him over," I suggested and Naomi looked at me, and I thought she might get sick.

She swallowed audibly to herself and move her foot to Perry, nudging him softly. He didn't move. Taking another breath she snuck her foot under his body and pushed him. Amazingly, his body easily gave away and fully rested on his back, allowing us access to his other pocket.

Following the same movement as before, our hands moved toward his other pocket. Naomi's fingers slid inside and I heard something clink.

I briefly closed my eyes. Please, please, if there is a god, please just please let that be it.

Naomi's hands emerged carrying a ring hanging two small keys.

We both let out a sigh of relief. I almost felt tears come to my eyes. Naomi's nervous, shaky hands moved to try to get a grip on one of the keys. She held one of my wrists still and carefully unlocked both of my cuffs.

I slid them off and chucked them onto the bed and unlocked Naomi's hands. Once we were both free, I immediately felt around the cuts on my wrist. They were jagged and bright red, and fuck did they hurt.

Both of us stood stupidly over their two bodies for a minute. Trying to completely process the fact that we were free of the cuffs, free of the men. Free...

"We have to go," I found myself saying, breaking the silence and startling the hell out of Naomi.

"Where?" she asked.

I hadn't thought that through, my only thought was to get out of that room as fast as possible. I ran to the door, feeling Naomi hot on my heels.

We opened the door and winced at the day light. It was foggy and chilly, very clearly early morning. I realized how much I'd lost sense of time. The last four or five days had been spent in alternating darkness and drug-induces states. I had no idea how many days it had been exactly.

I flattened my back against the wall outside the room. I heard the door click quietly shut after Naomi. She leaned against the wall with me, our ragged breathing fogging out from our mouths.

The hotel had only a few cars in the parking lot. We were on the second floor and out beyond the railings was nothing but more rolling hills.

We heard the door next to us open, our heads flying to stare at who ever was about to leave.

A small man exited, followed by a woman dressed in nothing but a sparkly leotard and a rain jacket. They didn't even notice us, as they were involved in their own discussion.

"Meet me back here tonight at ten, I have the room for a few nights," the man said gruffly as they walked father away from us.

"Gotcha," the woman, following him.

Before I could even process what was going on, I was distracted by Naomi reaching out her foot.

"Thank fuck," she said, under her breath and I immediately realized why. She had stopped the heavy door from closing with her foot. The room open to us.

She pulled my wrist and yanked me inside, hanging the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, shutting it and locking all three locks.

We both leaned against the door, breathing hard. I shivered abruptly, my body aching from the movement.

"We can't stay here," I said, not able to let myself soak the moment of brief freedom.

"The last place they're going to look for us is right next door," Naomi said. My eyebrows raised.

That was absolutely true. The very last place they would expect us to run to would be a room right next door to them.

"How did that couple not hear us?" Naomi asked out loud.

"What?" I asked, off put by her question.

"That man and that women, how did they not hear the screaming?" she asked.

I felt my face frown. That was a good question. Then again, they looked only a smidge less shady than our entire situation.

"Although," Naomi drawled on, scrunching her nose up. "They were probably too busy fucking to notice. Dirty pigs. Men are disgusting."

I let out a chortle of a laugh, the noise foreign to my ears. It had been so long since I'd laughed, I almost didn't recognized the sound.

Leave it to Naomi to make a crude comment only seconds after escaping arguably the most dangerous situation either of us had been in.

Naomi chanced a smile in my direction, and I finally saw her beauty in true form. My god, she had a great smile. Shy, but strong. She slid down the door, sitting on the floor and I followed. Our shoulders touching.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

I suddenly became very, very aware of my body. I could feel sweat on my lower back, and the grime between my fingers. My entire torso ached and my head itched. I felt like a mud pile, and probably looked like one too. It's amazing what can escape your conscious when your life is in danger.

"Probably a shower," I offered. Naomi laughed at that. Music to my ears.

"Are you having a laugh?" She asked, rubbing her forearm over her forehead.

"No," I said, my mind suddenly starting to work. The panic had worn off. "If we're going to be able to leave this place, we need to shower. Clean up."

Naomi eyed me. Her gaze traveling up and down my body. I almost felt self conscious.

"We do look a bit of a wreck," she said, biting her lip.

"It's our only shot. We'll be stopped otherwise."

She nodded her head, a forlorn look covering her face. We were free, but only marginally. The rush of escaping flooded out from both of us as we realized just how many hurdles we still had to over come. Those guys were bound to wake up, and then we were fucked. We would have to move again.

"We've probably got another half an hour or so of promised time," Naomi said. I agreed. Perry and Leo were out cold, but one of them could wake up in ten hours...or in the next hour.

"Move," I said, pushing Naomi's body up. We both tromped into the bathroom. Naomi flew past me and located two towels and some cheap hotel soap and hair wash, throwing them next to the tub. She reached in and turned on the shower.

"Stand there at the bathroom door, keep an ear out, I'll only be a minute," she said, stripping herself of her shirt, leaving her in only a bra. I had seen Naomi's stomach before, hell, even felt every contour of it, but I was in no way prepared to see her top half, almost naked. My breath caught in my throat.

"Don't look," she said, with a playful smirk and twirled her finger around, indicating I give her some privacy.

I quickly turned around and moved to the bathroom door, closing my eyes in embarrassment. This was NOT the time or the place to be perving. Holy christ Emily, get a grip. I leaned against the door frame and close my eyes. Letting out a sigh of relief.

I heard the curtain close in the shower and finally let myself turn around, eyeing Naomi's clothes on the floor. They were covered in dirt and blood. I cringed. Shower or not, these clothes wouldn't let us get very far unnoticed. And we needed to be able to get places unnoticed. We were in the middle of nowhere, and who knew how close any more of Leo and Perry's "friends" were.

With out thinking I flew into the hotel room. I saw scads of clothes scattered about the room. A staunch smell hit my nose, and I had to bring my hand up to cover it. It reeked of old sweat and cigarettes in here. I'm sure I didn't smell much better, but this was bad.

I spotted a bag in the corner and moved over to it. Opening it up I found numerous gym shorts and shirts in the bag. I lifted two of the shorts up and sniffed them. They smelled musty, but they didn't smell like the room. I dug through the bag and sifted out the smallest pairs of shorts and and shirts I could manage and ran back to the bathroom.

Naomi was stepping out of the shower, covered only in a towel and was dripping wet. I gulped, and shook my head, forcing myself to focus.

"Here put these on, not our old clothes," I said, handing her the clothes.

"Are you kidding? I'm not putting these on," Naomi scoffed. I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on my hip.

"You want to put those back on?" I countered, pointing to her pile of dirty, bloody clothes. She eyed them wearily.

"At least it's my own filth," she said, and while she had a good point, I didn't have time for this.

"Naomi, put on the clothes," I said, and she accepted with a mere shrug of her shoulders. It always did amaze her how our banter could take me out of reality for a moment. We were still in stark danger, yet here we were, arguing about clothes in a bathroom.

I quickly stripped myself of my shirt and turned around to check on Naomi, who was still turned facing me. Eyeing me oddly.

"Don't look," I teased, and I swear I saw a blush creep up her neck before she turned around quickly.

I didn't bother thinking too much about this, seeing as a steaming hot shower was awaiting me. I stripped myself of the rest of my clothing and stepped in the shower. The water was fucking amazing. My cuts were stinging like crazy, but I finally had a moment.

I let myself take a minute. A mere minute to relax. I counted down from sixty just standing there, in the water knowing Naomi and I were free. For just one minute. Once I got to zero I flew into action, scrubbing my skin almost raw with the cheap hotel soap and scrubbing my hair even harder. Trying desperately to wash away the past few days.

I watched as streams of dirty water washed into the drain and I felt an odd sense of satisfaction.

I shut off the water, reaching to grab the towel outside of the shower. Drying myself off quickly, I wrapped the towel around myself and opened the curtain to find Naomi, clad in the oversized clothing, with her ear pressed to the wall. She looked a little bit ridiculous, and with a sorry thoughi, I realized I would only look worse in the clothes. But we didn't have a choice.

I shrugged my undergarments back on and the clothes on over top of them. I plucked my pony tail holder off the sink and wrapped my hair up off of my face.

I did feel better. Cleaner. Slightly more refreshed.

"Shh," Naomi said, and I halted my movements. "I can hear the cell phone ringing still."

"Do you think that's bad?" I asked.

"I think someone realizes something is wrong. They always answer their phone," Naomi said. She had a point. I realized with a painful tug that we were going to have to leave this hotel room and soon. Someone had set this up. Someone else knew we were here. And would probably be here soon.

"We have to leave," I said.

"Yes, but we should wait to see if we can hear them wake up," Naomi insisted.

"What? That makes no sense. What if someone comes before they wake up?" I argued.

"It's a risk, yes, but if they think we've fled, and they leave the property, then we can make some actual moves. Leaving right now only leaves us ridiculously dressed, running in the middle of nowhere."

Damn Naomi and her sense. Fuck.

A noise startled me out of my train of thought. A groan. Through the wall. Naomi shoved her ear up against the wall, and I quickly followed.

I could hear shuffling from the other side of the wall. A knot formed in my stomach as I realized our brief period of peace was over.

"Fuck," I mutely heard through the wall. "Fuck, fuck, FUUUUCK. LEO!"

"Shit," Naomi said under her breath. Fear back into her voice. I looked at her, as if she would provide an answer. Her face was deep in concentration.

That stupid cell phone began ringing again.

"We need help!" I heard Perry's usually calm voice in a total panic.

"Leo's bleeding out! The girls are gone, we NEED back up!"

My body shuddered at the word back up. What did that mean?

"I can't leave him here," Perry shouted.

"Fine. I'll look for the girls. But send someone, NOW."

"No, they can't have run far, we've only been out for 20 or 30 minutes."

"I'll keep the phone on me. Bye."

My head snapped up as the phone call ended. Out of instinct I flew to the window by the door. I carefully peaked through the curtains.

"Emily, stop!" Naomi hissed under her breath. I felt her body come up right behind mine. Her body heat reaching through my clothes.

The hotel door slammed shut and we watched a now mask less Perry frantically look around the hallway. He had dark brown hair and a goatee. He ran passed our room and down the stairwell a few feet from us.

I closed my eyes hoping I heard the sound of the van starting. Which mean he would be leaving, but to no avail.

I felt Naomi sink to the floor.

"What the fuck are we doing, what the fuck are we doing?" she muttered to herself, her head in her hands.

I braved another glance out the window, watching Perry move from car to car, looking under and over. There wasn't many places to go from here. I realized with a pang of fear, that most of those options involved leaving with Leo, Perry, or someone worse again.

I reached my hand down and gripped Naomi's shoulder, closing my eyes. Trying to calm her down and willing myself to remember the white room, Naomi's voice and all it's compared serenity. Buying myself just a few more seconds of calm before the storm.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello all. Feeling much better, and checked my email last night to find so many alerts and reviews, it surprised me! Thank you all so much for reading this and sharing your words. **

**I had to laugh though, because when I wrote that last chapter I was pretty sick, and admittedly a bit loopy on cold medicine and antibiotics. I failed to notice I had deleted a pretty crucial part of the last chapter. Many of you asked why Naomi and Emily didn't just call anybody, and it all lies in the part I had taken out, in order to adjust a few details, and then forgot to put back in. Doh! Deepest apologizes for any confusion. Basically the missing part described how Emily was irritated at forgetting to grab the cell phone when they bolted out of the room, and then how when she went to use the telephone in the room they had been hiding out in...there was no phone to be found. I hope that clears a few things up, because that was pretty important as it lends to the bigger picture. Sorry once again! **

**Hoping I'm still keeping you on your toes! : ) Enjoy reading, review if you feel like it, I'm always forever encouraged by different thoughts and ideas of where this is going. As I said before, I'm always up for last minute improvisation from what I have planned. So keep any guesses coming! **

**Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Fourteen**

It had a been a 15 minutes since Perry had started his mad search for Naomi and myself. We were both pressed tightly against the door, our ears pressed against the hard wood.

"Where do we go from here?" I desperately asked Naomi. My brave facade had worn off quickly at seeing Naomi practically crumble apart only minutes before.

I was beginning to realize we were both brave in our own ways. Naomi could think through any situation, but was afraid to act on a lot of it, unless provoked. That's where I came in. My brain seemed to freeze, but I could act. I could run my mouth and run my body rampant and just act on it.

We both had one thing on our mind: getting out of this in one piece. What ever this was. I was still marvelously confused over what was happening. I understood I was wrongly kidnapped. I understood I was worth a lot to these guys. I also understood somewhere along the way, something had gone wrong, and the "fuck-up" domino effect just kept falling for Perry and Leo.

"Someone is coming for Leo, be it ambulance or another person like them," Naomi whispered to me. Her blue eyes meeting mine in the glint of daylight streaming through the curtains.

"Right," I said, remembering hearing the phone call Perry had held with his cell phone.

"We have to wait until that person shows up, then we have to move," Naomi said.

My arm hair stood on end. I knew she was right. We were not safe in this hotel room. We were not safe with in a 100 foot radius of any place Perry or Leo were. We were too easily recognizable. It's the only time i've mentally cursed the bright red shade I had dyed my hair.

"What?" Naomi asked me. I looked inquisitively at her and realized I must have said something out loud. I shook my head.

"I'm just cursing my hair. Our hair," I clarified, looking at Naomi's roots, which were growing out into a light brown. A bottle blonde. Hmm.

"Why?" she asked, our situation momentarily forgotten with a small smirk.

"A red head and a bottle blonde? We're not very discreet," I offered and felt a pinch on my forearm.

"Bottle blonde," Naomi said, scoffing lightly. "I should take offense."

"I like you blonde," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Naomi carefully looked at my face for a few seconds.

"You never knew me any other way. Until just the other day, you had no idea what I looked like," she pressed.

I kept silent, not wanting the conversation to go any farther. This wasn't the time or the place to let my brain run properly on the thoughts I was having.

We heard an engine pull up. I scooted sideways toward the window and braved a glance out. My heart dropped.

I saw two men, who were doubly scary and equally large, step out of a matching white van to Perry and Leo's. I felt Naomi look over my shoulder.

"Those are the guys who delivered our food!" she said, sounding completely shocked.

I looked helplessly out of the window, the two large black-clad figures with masks bearing no resemblance to me. They stood at the base of the staircase and soon Perry came flying out of what looked like the main office of the motel. He tugged his knit cap back on and flailed about, in a lengthy conversation with the two large men.

The three of them tore up the stairs and into the room next to us. The door slammed, the wall between our rooms shook.

"Now," Naomi insisted, pulling at my arm and opening the hotel room door. We didn't bother shutting it as we ran down the hallway, turning the corner at the end of it. We were met with another row of doors and a cleaning cart set out side one of the rooms.

Naomi started to bolt down the stairs, and I reached out to stop her.

"Wait, maybe they can help us," I whispered, glancing around us. My pulse raced. We only had minutes, seconds maybe before one of those men left the motel room.

Naomi bit her lip and nodded to me, beginning to move up the stairs. Then we heard the cleaning person exit the room. We both flattened ourselves against the wall of the cement staircase out of instinct.

I heard a few foot steps walk toward the cart that was only about five week away from us. I took a deep breath and was just about to look at the person when I heard a radio crackle. The noise stopped me out of confusion.

"Paula, you there?" a voice came over what was obviously a walkie talkie.

"I'm here, no sign of the girls in any of the rooms on this wing," a woman said back into the walkie talkie.

Jesus christ. I couldn't even process what was happening before Naomi practically ripped my arm out of the socket pulling me the rest of the way down the stairs. I felt my wet hair dripping down my neck and shivered in the breeze. If it got any colder, we weren't going to last in our current gym clothes attire.

We reached the bottom of the stair case, flattening ourselves against the wall at the bottom again. The staircase was angled in such a way that it bought us a few more seconds to think, because unless you looked directly down the stairs, you wouldn't be able to see us.

I looked out into the parking lot and only saw a few abandoned cars and the two matching white vans.

"We need to split up, look around the building, figure out where we are," Naomi said.

"NO!" I blurted out, almost too loudly. Naomi's hand clamped down hard on my mouth. Her blue eyes wide with fear. I could see my own eyes in hers, they were just as wide. Petrified for the next few seconds.

"Emily, we have too. Don't argue with me," Naomi said, somewhat harshly.

"No, we can't separate," I pushed again. The only thing keeping me together was Naomi. I felt like separating now would be a death sentence.

"We don't have time for this. Run around the building this way, and I'll run the other way, when we meet back in the middle we'll try to find a hiding place again," Naomi said. I trusted Naomi, but I didn't trust this plan.

It seemed as if this entire motel was in on this whole thing. Why else would a cleaning lady be looking for us? Or at least someone disguised as a cleaning lady. Who else in this place knew of us? This building wasn't big, but it wasn't small.

"I can't leave you," I said, hating how desperate my voice sounded. Naomi's hard face softened a little.

"We could have already had a good scan of this building and met up on the other side by now," Naomi said. Forever rational. It seemed if no one was plucking at Naomi's emotional strings, she could remain stoic and rational. Something I still wasn't able to do.

"Okay," I relented. Not having any other choice. We had wasted precious seconds arguing. Closing my eyes, I braced myself.

"Scream if anything happens," Naomi said and took off around the staircase.

My feet carried me around the bottom of of the motel. As I turned the corner away from the parking lot, I was momentarily stunned to find...nothing. I was expecting to find equally dingy buildings and run down businesses, but there was only a main street. I could see the same forest of trees I spotted yesterday, and it was closer. Within walking distance. I heard something crack behind me, and my body shot into motion again. I rounded the second corner, noting another parking lot. It was completely empty. This side of the motel seemed even more abandoned than the other side.

I turned another corner, cutting through some bushes when Naomi's long body came into view, running at me. I looked up to the building, making sure no one was watching, when I felt something trip me. I stumbled hard into the grass on the side of the concrete. Momentarily thankful for the soft landing.

A hand whipped around to my mouth, covering it. I screamed.

"Don't scream," A female voice said into my ear. Her hand smelled of oil and soot. My throat tightened up. A dread washing over me. Naomi had been a mere 20 feet away from me, and now I was...

"Emily, are you okay?" I breathless Naomi said as she approached the bush that was hiding me. She came to a screeching halt when she saw me, and who ever the hell was behind me, silencing me.

"Get down here," the woman said harshly to Naomi. Naomi hit the floor in seconds, crawling onto the bark in the bushes with me and this strange woman.

We got caught. My body relaxed, not out of actual relaxation, but out of finally having enough. My body had been riddled with tension for the past three days, and after time and time again of thinking we were getting somewhere, and always getting pulled back, my body was finally done fighting.

The hand was removed from my mouth and I was finally able to turn my head to see the woman. She was a very tan woman with long black hair, swept into a braid. She had on what appeared to be scrubs, or possibly a maids uniform and was very, very dirty.

"You two need to listen to me," she ordered. We both nodded. A part of me felt instantaneously guilty. Naomi could have gotten away. She wasn't pulled down to the ground, she could have ran, but because of me, and her worry about me, she didn't get away.

"I'm trying to help you," she said quickly. I could feel a look of hesitancy reach my face, and I didn't need to look at Naomi to know she was feeling the same way.

"I work for these guys," she said, and Naomi instantly pushed back away from the woman. The woman reached and grabbed Naomi's arm. Before I could stop myself I whacked the women's arm off of Naomi's. She hissed in pain, retracting her arm and looking curiously at the two of us.

"My name is Marie. I have been working with an undercover agent who was tipped off about this group of men."

"What?" I whispered out incredulously. As if enough bullshit hadn't been spewed at me over the past few days, this was the icing on top of a disgusting cake.

"I can't explain right now, you girls need to do exactly what I say," she rushed out.

"Or what?" Naomi asked.

"Or you can figure out what will happen," Marie said. For some reason, that's what tipped me back into her favor. She said it so matter-of-factly. As if she knew exactly what would happen to us if we didn't listen to her.

"Fuck it," I said, sitting myself on my knees. What have we got to lose? We were in the middle of absolutely no where. I had figured we had only mere seconds before danger crept behind our back, and we had already wasted several minutes with this Marie woman. We didn't have any other choice, really.

"That white van that pulled up? I'm going to be driving it away. There is a metal box in the back of the truck, used for tools. Climb into it. You're both on the smallish side, you should fit," she said.

The instant feeling of fear hit me. I didn't want to get into another box. Didn't want more darkness.

"Then what?" Naomi asked, exasperated.

"I'll drive it away. But you guys need to be hidden. We don't have time for this!" Marie said, just as exasperated.

The tone in her voice made me trust her again. Kill me if I'm wrong, and I almost mean that literally, but decisions right now mean life or death, and something about her made me trust her. I might regret it later, but right now I was determined to keep Naomi and myself safe. Even if it meant crawling into a metal box and trusting this woman.

"Come on," I said, tugging at Naomi's arm.

"Crawl through the hallway past the main entrance, keep to the left, you'll stay out of view," Marie said, and then stood up out of the bushes and walked away, heading the opposite direction of where she just told us to go.

Naomi's eyes met mine and for the first time I saw pure fear. She was always pretty good at fading in and out of her brave facade. I instantly remembered something she had told me back in the white rooms, what seems like ages ago. She had told me, if there was one thing in the entire world she hated-it was losing absolute control. This right here, was losing absolute control.

Before, with Perry and Leo, we were still somewhat in control. At least over our actions. Buying time. Distracting. But now we were putting our lives, quite literally, in the hands of a woman we, in all reality, shouldn't trust. Naomi was being thrust out of her element, and fear was finally taking over.

It was my time to act. My time to act, and not run my mouth. My hand fumbled around quickly gripping onto Naomi's hand, who weakly gripped mine back.

"I trusted you to run, now you have to trust me," I said, referring to our earlier conversation. She nodded dumbly and we took off to the left. We kept against the building between the bushes. I felt pricks and prods from the branches and bushes, my open calves getting cut up.

Marie was right, the bushes ended right at another outside hallway that appeared to be the entrance, of sorts, to the motel. We ran through it, our padding feet echoing off the concrete walls.

We popped out in the back parking lot, the two white vans directly in front of us. I saw both Naomi and I peer up at the room we had been occupying. The door was open, and voices could be heard.

I pulled Naomi around to the back of the white van. I looked both ways and quietly opened the back door. Sure enough, the entire back of the van was empty aside from a large cooler and a metal box at the front of the back. It extended from either side and appeared to be latched onto the van.

I climbed into the truck and immediately went to the box, opening it up. It was empty, and it was small, but it would fit both Naomi and I. I waved Naomi in, who hesitantly stepped up into the van.

"I can't get in there," Naomi said, her voice small.

"Yes you can," I pushed. I found it incredibly ironic how quickly the roles reversed between the two of us. It was almost as if we fed off our fear differently, grabbing our bravery at different times, with different motivation. It was useful that one of us always seemed to be able to hang on tighter, but I feared for the day we both collapsed victim to the fear. Right now Naomi was startlingly close.

"No I can't," she said, shaking her head.

"And what? We have no choice but to trust this woman."

"We shouldn't trust anyone."

"You should trust my instincts," I argued.

"I do, but I can't get into that box."

"I'm going to be right there, literally. You're going to have to deal with me straight next to you. I'm not leaving you."

"Thank god we took a shower," Naomi said. My ragged breathing abruptly stopped in surprise. I couldn't even laugh at the inappropriateness of that comment. I shouldn't be surprised though, even at her worst moments of fear, Naomi managed to cover some of it up with cynical sarcasm.

"Yeah thank fuck, now get in!" I whispered harshly as I heard a door slam shut and voices growing louder.

Naomi darted in the box, crouching on her knees, folding herself in half, leaving half the box open for my body. I tip toed to the back of the van, and shut the door as quietly as I could. Then I felt my way through the dim darkness to the box. Naomi's hands reached out and pulled me in.

I tucked my body into the box, facing Naomi. Both of us bent over, on our knees. Our heads only millimeters apart from one another. I reached up and closed the box over us, encasing us once again in complete darkness.

I tried to even my breathing, and closed my eyes shut, clenching my fists. I felt Naomi lean her head into mine, if anything just to feel that I'm there. I was thankful for the contact. Her warm head pressed into mine was motivation.

I heard the van door swing open. The voices clear as day.

"Marie, get Leo back to Donald's. We need to keep scanning this place. The girls are hiding somewhere. There aint no where to run," a gruff voice I didn't recognize said.

"Check the back sheds, there's two," Marie's voice said. I held my breath.

"Oh fuck, good idea, I had forgotten about those," Perry's voice said.

"Are you sure you're fine by yourself?" A second voice I didn't recognize said.

"Positive. You three need to find those girls, our jobs depend on it," Marie's strong voice said. There was a murmur of agreement.

A thud hid the back of the van. It sounded a lot like a body. My eyes flew open and my breath caught in my throat. Was that Leo's body in the back of the van? Was Marie taking Leo somewhere? What had we just gotten ourselves into?

"Okay, call us when you get to Donald's. Get more back up," Perry instructed and the van door slammed shut. I couldn't understand what was being said anymore. A few moments later, the engine roared to life.

"I fucking hope my trust in your instincts isn't wrong," Naomi said. I rested my head on the cold metal of the floor of the box we were occupying. Hoping with every fiber of my being I wasn't wrong either.


	15. Chapter 15

**Catching up on work after you're sick is just a bitch. Procrastination is my best friend. So, here's another chapter and more mystery. Hope you're all still being entertained! **

**Skins isn't mine**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 15**

The van traveled for at least thirty minutes before I heard the engine slow down to a stop. The van sat in an idle position, engine running. I heard a soft voice come from the front. This Marie character was on the phone with someone. It sounded like she was arguing with them.

I felt Naomi lean her head into mine again. Once the the van started moving back at the motel, she warned me not to speak. In fear of Leo coming to and hearing us.

I felt chills down my spine every time I remembered Leo was laying a foot away from us, outside our current safe haven that was a metal box.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his own. His dark, beady eyes that bored into mine. A look of pure rage. He didn't like me, and now he had a gash on the back of his head from Naomi bringing down the metal rod onto it. He would be unfathomably angry once he came to. I was dreading it with each passing second.

Eventually the van started moving again. It took one sharp turn after the next and traveled for another period of time.

Time. It's a fickle thing. Time ticks away every second, bringing you one second closer to death. In normal people's cases, it was just another second to the unknown they're expecting. But for Naomi and I, death, or at least immense pain and struggle were awaiting us each second. Each second was a curse. Not a blessing.

Suddenly the van turned another sharp corner and screeched to a stop. I didn't even have time to catch my breath before I heard two more voices I didn't recognize outside of the van.

"Holy hell Marie, learn how to drive," a male voice said.

"I got here in one piece didn't I?" I heard Marie snap.

"Where's Leo?" another male voice said.

"In the back."

I felt Naomi curl her head into herself. Her hair brushing my cheek as she turned away. I felt my back ache and tense. Sitting in this crouched position was getting harder and harder. No relief.

The back door of the van swung open. I held my breath.

You could hear some shuffling and then what was obviously Leo's body being removed from the back of the van. I waited anxiously for the door to close, but it never happened.

"Oh hey guys, the box in the van is full of supplies, can you carry it into the storage room for me?" Marie called out.

I heard Naomi take in a sharp breath. If my arms had been free, I would have smacked her for how loud it was.

"Supplies?" one of the guys said. "What supplies?"

I felt the van sway as someone stepped into the back.

"Just some shit, alright? Girly stuff for me, food, the usual," Marie huffed out. "You can go through it once were inside."

I lifted my head and felt a sting of betrayal wash over me. Oh fuck. Had Marie set us up? It didn't make any sense. If she wanted us caught, she could have easily done it at the motel. But still, there was not one person I could fully trust apart from Naomi.

"Fine," one of the male voices said. "We'll come out and get it in a few minutes."

We heard footsteps walking away from the van. My guilt made my mind snap into gear. I started to move.

"Where are you going?" Naomi asked, panicking.

"We have to go, Marie is about to sell us out!" I cried out.

"What if there are people outside of this van, Emily," Naomi asked, calm once again. "Then what?"

I paused, answer less.

"The best we can do is sit here," she said.

An irony stuck me. We were in constant battle of the fight or flight. Or I suppose wait or flight. Neither of us consistently wanted to run, and neither of us consistently wanted to wait. We switched our positions left and right. It completely depended on our strength at the moment, which tended to waver with more vigor every day. Right now though, Naomi wanted to stay while I wanted to run. Never on the same page, yet always on the same page.

The second irony is that one of us always caves. So far our decisions have been equally to our advantage and disadvantage. We had no choice but to just "go" in hopes of something working out right. This time...I complied to Naomi. Again.

Pretty soon we heard footsteps coming back out to the truck.

"Oh my god," I breathed out, unable to help myself.

"It'll be alright, just keep quiet," Naomi instructed.

The van shook as someone, or more than one person, entered the truck. I almost yelped out in surprise when the metal box was jerked in one direction, stiffening my body in hopes it wouldn't slam up against the side. As if there was room.

"Jesus, what did Marie get?" A voice said. A voice I now recognized, it was one of the same men from earlier.

The metal box slid on the van floor, then I felt my body lose some sense of gravity as we were lifted into the air. Grunts came from outside the box.

"Fuck me, this is total dead weight. Why are we stuck moving this?" A second voice said. The other man from earlier.

"Marie said we'd be interested in what she found," the first man answered.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," I whispered out, so quietly I almost couldn't hear myself. I was wrong. Marie wasn't helping us...she was completely setting us up. I curled up farther into myself, as if it would make me disappear.

We shuffled back and forth as the box was brought somewhere. Eventually we were set down.

"Marie, can we open this up yet?" the first man called out again.

"Yeah, just let me come explain," Marie said. I heard footsteps entering where ever we were.

"This is it," I heard Naomi say breathlessly and the feelings of betrayal and guilt almost knocked me out. I had to remember to breath.

The metal box swung open, light pouring into the darkness once again.

"What the actual fuck!" One of the men said, alarmed.

"These are the girls," Marie said, sounding proud.

"How'd you..." the second one said, sounding confused.

"I found them and coerced them to come with me. Right losers believing me," Marie said.

Naomi and I had remained crouched inside the metal box. I was far too afraid to sit up and face the music, and I'm assuming Naomi was as well.

Laughter filled the air as one of the men broke out into a cackle. I felt Naomi shudder. I would have shuttered too had I not been paralyzed with emotion.

"What the hell are we to do with them here?" the second guy asked.

"We'll lock them in one of Donald's rooms. Perry and Leo couldn't handle the job. They wanted back up? Well, they've got it. Now they've got the entire house in on the job," Marie said.

Donald's? Donald's House? What was going on. I couldn't puzzle the pieces together fast enough.

"Well?" Marie's exasperated voice echoed through the room. "What are you waiting for? Throw them into one of the rooms."

"There isn't an open room. We've been bunking in them," one of the guys snapped back.

"Move some shit out then!" Marie snapped again. "Throw them in Perry's room. He's being taken care of."

Those last four words finally broke through my paralyzed state and I felt my teeth chatter and my body vibrate. If Perry's "being taken care of," what the heck was going to happen to us?

"Shouldn't we separate them?" the second guy asked. Oh god, no. No. No. No.

"No," Marie instructed. "They're sneaky little shits and if they're in one room, then we can keep a better eye on them. What harm will they do to each other?"

Silence filled the room.

"Exactly. Nothing. On with it," she finished and I heard footsteps leave the room.

I didn't even have time to react before I felt arms slip around my middle. Adrenaline kicked in and I started thrashing. I saw an incredibly large man lifting Naomi out of the metal box like she was a rag doll. Her eyes caught mine and they widened in surprise, then she started imitating me and thrashing around herself.

"Calm down, girlie!" The guy who was holding me shouted. He moved one of this arms down around my thighs. Clasping them together. I was thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The air momentarily knocked out of me. I continued kicking, but quickly realized it was futile. I was smashing my tiny fists into the mountains of muscle on this guys back. It wasn't doing anything.

I lifted my head and glanced around. We were in a house. A huge house. The walls were dingy and off-white. The entire place smelled of burning wood.

I heard a door open and we entered a room. My body was thrown down on the bed, and I felt Naomi's get tossed on top of me in a heap. I cried out in pain.

I finally got a good look at the men carrying us. They were also donning black knit masks. I hadn't seen the proper identity of anyone aside from Marie. What kind of place was this?

"You'll be brought food in a bit. As you can see the windows are barred. No sense in any funny business. We'll be right outside," the guy who had been carrying Naomi said, cracking his knuckles.

Then they shuffled out of the room and the door slammed. The sound of two locks being put into use came through the door.

The room was empty, aside from a bed and a rusty metal table. There was no light, and only one window. It was getting dark outside. Rain clouds mixed with the incoming fall weather made it darker earlier.

I felt Naomi shuffle away from me. She got up off the bed and went across the room, planting her back against the wall and sliding down it. She fell into a helpless heap.

"Naomi...I..." I started, trying to voice my racing thoughts.

"I don't want to hear your voice right now," she said, calmly. Dread hit me hard. Naomi was upset with me. She had a right to be, I suppose. I had somewhat coaxed her into getting into that metal box. Bringing us to our doomed fate here in this dingy house.

I set back against the wall on the bed and stared down at my hands.

"What else could we have done?" I asked quietly.

Naomi stared down at her own hands, ignoring me.

"So you're ignoring me now?" I snapped, to my own surprise. I had little to no room for any emotional baggage from Naomi.

"I said...I don't want to hear your voice right now," she said, a bit more harshly. It stung. It stung worse than I ever could have thought and I was mildly embarrassed. She kept saying my voice...and in a very odd way, that almost hurt worse than if she had said she didn't want to talk to me or see my face. She told me my voice always provided a sense of comfort to her. She was obviously beyond upset.

I gave up. Laying down on the bed, forcing my body to relax. My mind was buzzing, my blood pounding, but exhaustion was imminent. I made myself even out my breathing and soon I slipped off into an uneasy slumber. Forcing the next little bit of time to pass.

I woke up to a loud banging. I leaped to attention, startling myself. The room was now almost completely dark, as night fall was approaching.

"TO YOUR CORNER," One of the voices said, and I realized with a pang that it was the voice that had always ordered me around back in our white rooms. How many fucking people were in on this thing?

I managed to make out the form of Naomi pushing herself up from the floor. She must have fallen asleep.

"TO. YOUR. CORNER!" The voice said again, pounding the door with each word.

"What?" Naomi's sleep groggy voice came through the room.

"Go to a corner away from the door, sit on your hands, don't turn around," I instructed numbly. I got up and used the last bit of light coming through the room to make my way to a corner. I sat down, shoved my hands underneath my bum and felt an awful sense of deja vu. I heard Naomi settle down as well.

The door slid open and I heard a tray slid in.

"Need anything else?" The voice said.

"Vicodin?" I called out. It's incredibly odd to describe, but hearing the same voice who had spoken to me through a door for three months brought a sense a familiarity to a growingly unfamiliar situation. He had brought me fever medicine before and I was hoping with all my might that vicodin could be provided. My body was aching incredibly. I only imagined Naomi's was as well.

"Alright," the voice said. "You don't fucking move an inch. I've got two guys out here waiting if you do."

Footsteps walked away. Silence filled the room. A small ounce of relief washed over me. At least we were still being fed. Even if we were in danger. It's the little things.

"Is this how it always was for you?" Naomi asked, sounding unusually nervous.

"Yes," I said. I didn't know how to respond with her. I didn't know if she was still upset.

"This is terrible," Naomi said, more to herself than anything.

Seconds later the footsteps returned and I heard what was distinctly a medicine bottle being tossed into the room. It bounced off the carpeted floor.

"Food, water and vicodin. Make yourselves comfortable. You'll be here a while," the voice said and the door slammed shut again. Locks put into place.

I spun around out of my corner quickly. I blindly moved over to the tray, where I found two sandwiches and two bottles of water. Then I crawled around finding the bottle of vicodin. I grabbed my sandwich and water bottle, then popped open the cap to the vicodin, taking one. I put the bottle on the tray and slid Naomi's portions across the room over to her.

We ate in complete silence. I could only hear my own heartbeat, which was still beating rapidly. I briefly wondered if it would ever calm down. My blood pressure was probably through the roof.

"You're incredibly brave," Naomi's voice cut through the room.

"How?" I asked, hesitant.

"I can't imagine doing that everyday. Never being able to see anybody. I at least was able to talk to people. Converse. Treated somewhat normal. You were completely shut out. The fact that the fear of being entirely alone hasn't consumed you yet is amazing to me," she admitted.

"You had a lot to do with that," I blurted out before I could stop myself. I squeezed my eyes shut. I was supposed to be irritated at Naomi.

More silence.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked, hating how small my voice was.

"I don't know what to think," she said, sounding exasperated. I stayed silent in hopes she would continue her thought train. I could almost hear the cogs ticking from across the room. Enveloped in darkness, unable to see each other, we were forced to communicate with each other through our roots. With our voices and ears.

"I don't...I don't depend on people," Naomi finally continued after a few passing moments. "Never have. People don't help me, I don't help them. They fuck you over, you know? But I completely depend on you in here. I know the circumstances are mostly to blame but it scares the shit out of me."

"What does?" I asked, finding myself confused.

"I'm not sure which scares me more: how much I depend on you, or the fact that it wasn't just the circumstances that made me depend on you."

"What?" I asked. She was being incredibly cryptic. I wasn't used to this, Naomi was usually so straight forward.

"It's you," she said. "I just trust...you."

She said it so helplessly, I was almost offended.

"I'm sorry," I said, unable to think of anything else.

"I don't know what it is about you. I don't think we would have been friends outside of here. I'm too hard and you're too soft, but...this situation gave me a chance to get to know you and I couldn't help but trust you. Not the circumstances."

What she was saying was making complete sense. I understood it finally. She was completely thrown by her trust in me. I had a vague idea that Naomi was the kind of person who didn't think she needed anybody, not really.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, suddenly realizing she probably had a point when she started talking.

"I trusted you. In a matter of seconds I trusted you today about Marie. I could have just taken off when I saw her, you know? I could have just ran," Naomi said, voicing the thoughts I had earlier myself. The guilt I had felt when I realized Naomi could have left. Saved herself. "But I couldn't. I couldn't leave you. And I hate that."

"Oh," I trailed off, stunned silent again.

"But I also don't mind it. I don't know. You're different Emily. I hate it, but I love it," she said.

"It's kind of nice," I said. "Having someone else to watch for. It's an odd comfort."

"Yeah," Naomi breathed out. "It is."

We sat in silence a bit more. I realized the ache in my body had dulled significantly. The room was completely encase in blackness now. The moonlight only providing a small sliver of light.

"Come lay down," I said, finding the bed and pulling myself onto it. It was only a twin, but it would suffice.

Naomi shuffled over and pulled herself into the bed. I sat up and yanked the thin sheet from the bed over us. We both laid on our backs, breathing softly.

"It's not your fault," Naomi said. "Earlier? It wasn't your fault. I didn't have to listen to you. I could have ran, convinced you harder to run with me. And I didn't. I'm just as much at fault as you."

I didn't say anything. Didn't feel words were needed. I just shifted my head so it was laying softly on Naomi's shoulder and let myself relax. Borrowing the moment again.

A hand clamping down on my mouth startled me awake sometime later. I went to scream, but found I could hardly catch my breath. The hand covering my mouth was also covering my nose.

"Shh, don't scream," a voice broke through my sleep fog. I felt Naomi's hand clamp down on my thigh in fear under the sheet. Then I realized it was Marie's voice speaking to us.

I struggled away from Marie's hand. She was a traitor in my opinion and I didn't want her touching me.

"No, shh, you've got the situation all wrong," she whispered into my ear. Naomi's hand dug harder into my thigh and I froze.

"I have a part to play. A part i've been playing for 10 months. I can't blow it by saving you guys straight away. I have to play the game, do you understand? I'm still here to help you. But you need to play with me. You need to do exactly as I say, and I will get you out of here. Do you understand me? I will get you out," she said in a low voice. Her warm breath floating between Naomi and I.

We both nodded dumbly.

"You have no idea what you're under. No idea the control above you. This is your only way out. The claws on this monster spread through this entire area. You won't get anywhere running. I'm working on a plan, but I need time. I need you guys to trust me."

"Why?" Naomi's voice said, still somewhat muted under Marie's hand on her mouth.

"You don't have any other choice," Marie said, echoing her words from earlier.

She removed her hands from our mouths.

"You'll be fed and left alone, that much I can promise. You guys will be nursed back to health. Then you can fight with me," she said.

Before we could respond I felt a breeze on my head as Marie stood up and the door to our room shut quietly, the locks being put into place.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I think that...was hope," Naomi said, finally letting go of my thigh. Almost sheepishly. She rolled over, her back to me. "I'm just glad I'm not alone, we're not alone."

I laid still on my back, processing everything. Or at least trying to. I couldn't do anything but agree with Naomi. It's all I had at the minute.


	16. Chapter 16

**Another chapter, another twist. Thank you immensely for sharing your thoughts and fear. I can't express my gratitude enough. Enjoying this whole process immensely. : ) I don't own skins. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter Sixteen**

Naomi and I must have slept for hours. I woke up aching, but it was a wonderful ache. It was ache of getting far too much sleep. My head wasn't pounding as much, my heart rate finally slowed. My tummy grumbled, embarrassingly enough, and it was why I finally woke up.

I cursed the time. I had no idea how long we'd been asleep, I just figured it had been a while. I hated having lost all track of time. It was an element of irritation, which was getting to me more and more.

I rolled over to stretch my body and found something blocking my way. More specifically, Naomi's warm body was blocking my way. She was facing the same direction I had been, and had scooted herself against my body so there was barely and inch between us.

I reveled in the comfort, briefly. I was still getting used to having another human being next to me. It's odd. I've been alive for 18 years. Had human contact for 18 years, but being cut off from everything for three months had made me unintentionally anxious about it. I was constantly forced to accept the body contact. My brain having to take a minute to wrap itself around the fact that Naomi was, in fact, right next to me. Breathing. Sleeping. Being.

But, as usual, the comfort only lasted a minute before everything came rushing back. This wasn't like the white rooms. There was no true comfort here. We were, once again, living on borrowed time. There was no way to know when our time in this room would end. When we would be fighting for our lives again.

"Emily?" Naomi's voice broke my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I said, finally moving my body to roll on my back, hearing it crack a few times.

"I was just seeing if you were awake, I heard your breathing quicken," she said, simply. As if it weren't a bit odd that she could detect my sense of being simply by my breathing.

"Just trying to gather myself," I offered.

"No kidding, we must have slept for ages," she said, rolling onto her back herself.

We laid in silence for a few minutes. Through my peripheral I could see Naomi's hands, which were rested on her stomach, raise and lower with her breathing. The one thing about silence is that it offers an opportunity for your brain to run a little wild. My brain had begun turning the second I woke up, and it was just spinning faster.

"Naomi, what did you mean by you never let any one in?" I finally asked, breaking the daunting silence. It had been bothering me. What she said about trusting me. My trust in Naomi was uncontrollable. Once it was established, I didn't question it. But that's my nature. It's hard for me to understand how someone could not function like that. I was aching to know why.

"What?" she asked, clearly surprised by my question.

"Last night, you said you never let anybody in? I was just wondering. You always seem like such an honest person. Entirely lovely and entertaining, but honest. All qualities that usually result in friends," I said.

Naomi sighed and lolled her head on its side to watch me. I copied her movements.

"I've had friends," Naomi started. "But they've always been an arms length away."

"Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I've never been outwardly hurt by anyone, really. I have a few lovely friends back home. A girl Effy and two guys Freddie and Cook. They're my group of friends. There is no real reason why I'm so hesitant to let anybody close."

"Then why?" I pressed again. I knew Naomi. I knew she knew why. She was in her head entirely too much NOT to know.

"I've always been smart, you know? Always been really analytical and intuitive. But it's almost been to a fault. I know people; get people. I've seen the damage and know what people are capable of. I guess I just unintentionally predict situations…and the predicted outcome is usually bad."

"You assume the worst in people," I stated. The wayward pieces in the Naomi puzzle slid into place for me. It actually made total sense. Naomi was too smart for her own good. Her brain quickly wrapped around persona's and people in general, and because she felt she understood them, she felt she could always predict the ending. The way it would end. She was, in a weird sense, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Her brains betrayed her. They didn't allow her to feel someone, only analyze them.

"I do," she breathed out.

"Did you overanalyze me?" I asked, the question popping into my mind.

"I overanalyze you every day," came the simple answer.

"What?" I asked, now my voice surprised by her answer.

"I've said it before; you're different. You're different to me and I feel differently about you. I can't seem to figure out why and because of the past days events it's only gotten…"

Her explanation was abruptly cut off by the door to our room swinging open. Marie's panicked face came into view and I felt my stomach drop. Naomi and I quickly lurched ourselves up into sitting positions in confusion.

"I'm so sorry girls, things have changed," she said quickly, rushing to the window and pulling helplessly at the bars. Cursing under her breath when they wouldn't budge.

"What does that mean?" Naomi asked harshly. The fear undoubtedly evident in her voice.

"Who's the daughter of Gina?" Marie asked.

I heard Naomi gasp a breath.

"It's Naomi's mum," I offered, feeling my stomach drop even further.

"She's done something. I don't know what, but these guys have gotten drastic. Something is going to happen: Today. I need to get out of here to get back up, but I can't leave. They'll know it's me, they'll know I'm the mole."

"They know there is a mole?" Naomi asked.  
"You two don't get it. This has been a flawlessly working operation for three years now. It's all gone tits up in the last three months. Starting with you Emily," Marie said, pointing at me. A shiver ran through my system. "For some reason, irony perhaps, Naomi was kidnapped at the exact same time. Her mum didn't get the directions and has been reeking havoc for this entire place. The two of you are to blame. Just your presence here has put everything in jeopardy. And they're done trying to solve the puzzle."

"But we knew all that, what has changed?" Naomi insisted. I could feel her body tensing up. I was enormously happy she was speaking, as my mind wasn't capable of it. Most of what Marie had been telling us, we knew. But there was a raw desperation to her voice that told me we were in very, very immediate danger.

"You two have been sitting ducks. Most of the kids that come through here get out, safely. And within a week or two. Of course you two didn't realize this, because you've been here for a while, yeah?" she asked. My jaw dropped. Jealously raged through my system. I knew there had been others, but they went through no where near the trouble we did. Why us? Why Naomi and I? We had done nothing, yet we were paying the price.

"Yes," I managed to gag out.

"You've been here for such a long time because everyone in this place was trying to save their own asses and cover up their tracks. They haven't been able to do it and they're done," Marie said.

"Done?" I found myself saying again. The finality of her words crashing through me.

"Done. I don't know how I'm going to be able to help you. I'll keep trying, but I just came in here really quick to warn you. I can't watch you two because I need to figure out a way to get back up. If I get the chance to slip away I will, and you two will have to fend for yourselves," Marie said.

Disappointment replaced the fear. Marie had been completely honest with us. She had been trying to help us, but she no longer could. I could see it in the pure fear in her face. She was as afraid for her life as we were for ours. I hadn't realized how much hope I had put into Marie until just now.

"Marie, no," Naomi said, her voice hard. "You can't leave us."

"I'm not leaving you. I'm still helping you. But I'm warning you, the second I get a chance to get away and get help, I'm going. If that happens, you two have to watch yourselves."

I heard footsteps coming near the door. Out of instinct I flew up off the bed, feeling a bit more protected standing up. Naomi was quick to follow.

"What the fuck do you two think you're playing at?" Marie said to us, her voice switching from fear to vicious in two seconds flat. A facade.

Two large men entered the room, and I recognized their forms straight away.

"What are you doing Marie?" One of the guys asked, his voice level.

"These two were begging me not to hurt them," Marie said, smirk on her face.

"Futile effort," the guy who had fed me for three months said with a laugh.

"I came in to make sure they were awake and lucid," Marie said. The other man nodded at her and then turned to face us.

"You're getting paid a little visit by the big guy," he said

My hand instantly reached out for Naomi. She backed away from my touch. Sending a curt shake of her head when I glanced at her.

The two men barreled forward and grabbed both of us before I knew what was happening.

"Don't drug us, don't drug us, don't drug us!" I started screaming. It was entirely instinctual.

"I'm not drugging you, you little shit, just calm down. Don't fight it," the guy who grabbed me gruffly said into my ear. His hand covered my mouth, and I bit it. He removed his hand, swore under his breath, shaking his hand a few times. Then he smacked me upside the head. The side of my face roared with pain.

I felt two fingers on the back and my neck and they squeezed. Pain ripped down my spine. I had no idea what he was doing, but it hurt. I relaxed my body in attempts to get him to let go.

I felt my body being carried through the house. Soon we entered a room with two chairs in the middle. I was roughly thrown down into one of the chairs, my hands pulled behind my back and handcuffed. The guy who had been holding me kicked the back of my chair, causing me to scream. It didn't hurt, but it scared the shit out of me.

The two men abruptly left the room, leaving the light on and the door open. I heard metal clinging and looked to my left to see Naomi struggling in her handcuffs.

Survival mode took over. An eerie calm covering me. Everything became startlingly clear. The room was painted a rough beige color. Stains covered the walls. We were in plastic chairs, and the handcuffs were digging into my wrists. My face was on fire, my body ached. My heart was beating out of my chest and my breathing quick.

Naomi was sitting in the chair, wincing out loud in pain. She was struggling against the cuffs, and I automatically figured hers were on too tight, just like mine had been in the motel. She was biting her lip and closing her eyes. I could see a small sheen of sweat covering her face. She was in pure panic mode.

"Naomi," I whispered, trying to get her attention. She brought her eyes up to meet mine, and the look in them startled me. It was complete dread. I had seen Naomi absolutely terrified, but I had never seen her eyes as wild as they were now.

"We might have to talk our way out of this," I insisted. "I'll need your help."

She shook her head.

"No, listen to me," I said harshly. "Words are all we have right now."

"I trusted Marie. I trusted her, thought she would help us and now she's not going to," Naomi rushed out furiously and I instantly realized this went beyond normal fear. Not only was her life, almost literally, in danger, she was facing one of her biggest fears in life too. Trusting someone, and having that trust broken.

"Fuck Marie. She might help us, she might not, but I'm still here. Fuck," I blurted out, frustrated.  
"How can I help you if I'm tied to this chair?" Naomi asked, desperate. "How can you help me?"

"I don't know, but I need your sane brain right now. So stay with me!" I said my voice getting louder. My own fear at Naomi's insecurities taking over. Tearing my calm feeling away inch at a time.

"Alright," Naomi said quietly. She shook her head. As if she were trying to knock herself out of the funk she had fallen into. I let out a sigh of relief. She was coming back to me. The Naomi I needed was coming back.

I heard footsteps again a few minutes later. I held my breath. We were about to meet the boss. The head honcho of this entire fucked up organization.

A man rounded the corner, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely surprised. A man, no taller than Naomi walked through the door. He was gauntly thin, his sharp suit hanging on his body. He had neatly cut blonde hair and a tuft of hair on his chin. He smiled. It was a shiny, white plastic smile.

Immediately following him into the room came Perry, a limping Leo, the two men who had carried us into the room, Marie and four other large men equivalent in size to the other large men. The two men who had carried us in now donned handguns in holsters on their waists.

Ten people in total. Ten people, crowding into this smallish room around Naomi and I. I was a small person, but I've never felt smaller in my entire life.

"Hello Ladies," the man in the suit said, reaching out his hand to shake ours. Then he laughed to himself, retreated his hand, wiping it on his suit. "My name is Donald, but you can call me Mr. White."

I continued staring at him, but kept silent. It was easier to stare at this small guy then to the large men surrounding us. Waiting for us to make a move.

Donald walked around the room in front of his goons, gesturing to them.

"This is my team. You've met a few of them, I've been told," Donald said, smirking at Leo. Only then did I take notice of his head, wrapped tightly with gauze.

"I wanted you to meet everyone, and for everyone to meet you. I've been in this business for three years now and I've never ever experienced near the amount of trouble with anyone else I have with you. Both of you separately aren't that bad, but there are two of you. Double the trouble," Donald continued and walked to stand directly in front of Naomi and I.

I couldn't breath. My mind was racing, waiting for the right moment to open my mouth. I knew opening my mouth could only get me in trouble, but we were already in trouble. I didn't see the harm in it.

"Do you want to hear a story girls?" Donald asked.

We both stayed silent.

"Do you?" He asked, and the two men with guns took a step forward.

"Yes!" I blurted out. Naomi furiously nodded her head.

"I got bored one afternoon. Perry, Leo and I were sharing an apartment in south London. I decided to myself, do you think we could get away with taking a child and collecting ransom with out getting caught? Well, what do you know, I got bored enough to try and pulled it off!" He said with a holler of a laughter.

My spine tightened. This all started out of boredom?

"Then we quickly realized taking small children was just mean. Older children are more resilient, could get over something like this. That's when we honed in on teenagers. Before I knew it, three years later we had a fully functioning machine. I've hired on all the people you see before you. Bought a building in the middle of nowhere where we held everyone. Had a complete process in informing the parents, covering our tracks, collecting the money and giving them back."

"How have you not been caught?" Naomi asked, breathless.

"That's an excellent question Naomi darling, I'm glad you've asked," Donald said, pleased. "You have seen the identity of most of the people in here, but most of the kids don't even physically see anyone. They're drugged before they can react. Special gloves are worn to hide fingerprints. Special roads are driven and cars are changed every few weeks. We burn everything and put all of the money in overseas accounts."

Fuck me. Marie was right, this entire thing was completely over our heads. Three years was a long time. How many teenagers had been put through this?

"I must add there are people involved in this you haven't met. Of course we couldn't have gotten away with this for as long as we have if it weren't for the protection of some particular law enforcement," Donald added with another smirk. "I'm sure you've been told there is no where to run, and that is why."

I shook on my chair and I realized my knees were literally knocking. My entire body had begun vibrating. This was joke; this had to be a joke. Law enforcement was involved? How?

Someone in the room cleared their throat. It had been one of the guys holding a gun. Donald nodded at him and cleared his own throat.

"Right, sorry, getting a bit off track. I'm going to give it to you straight, girls," Donald started. "There has been one mistake after another after another. First a mistake was made on my end, and then you two started meddling around. Getting to know each other, becoming friends."

I snuck a glance at Naomi. Donald chuckled.

"Don't think we weren't aware of your window chatter. It was almost cute. Never the less, construction started from the building across. The workers started getting curious, too curious, and they were killed...accidentally," Donald said.

I closed my eyes, remembering the sound of the bodies of the construction workers hitting the concrete.

"That was the first mistake on our end, and the man who made the mistake has been taken care of. We had to move you two, to figure out our next move, and then both of you gave Perry and Leo a hard time," Donald said, tutting. "Well? You know the rest of the story, but what you may or may not have realized, is Naomi's mum has been giving us trouble. Our territory is being sniffed by law enforcement not on our side. I've suspected a mole."

I forced myself not to glance at Marie, holding my eyes on Donald. He was sharing so much information, but nothing all at the same time. I still had so many questions. What sort of trouble has Naomi's mum been causing? Have my parents been doing anything? What about me being a mistake? The questions continued building in my mind.

"I've done some hard digging and I think I've figured it all out," Donald said, triumphant smile taking over his face. He snapped his fingers and held out his hand. One of the large gun-holding men handed over his handgun.

Donald opened the gun, inspecting the bullets. He spun it shut, released the safety and turned around.

Two loud shots burst through the air, and I let out a scream. The sound was quickly followed by two bodies slumping to the floor; the bodies of Leo and Perry. Naomi let out a small yelp.

The smell of gunfire filled the room, and the silence was deafening. Everyone stunned silent.

Donald brought the gun up and blew on the end and put the gun in the belt of his slacks. He turned back around to us. I quickly glanced back at Marie who had a look of honest shock on her face, her carefully placed facade failing for a second.

"Boss," Marie said, her voice betraying her. Donald turned around to Marie with a smile on his face.

"Yes?"

"Did you think those two were the moles?"

"No, but they've fucked up enough. Got to hide the evidence, yeah?" Donald said.

"Oh god," Naomi said, as if she realized what was going on. I turned my head quickly to look at her, trying to read her face. What had she cottoned onto?

Donald snapped his fingers again, holding out his hand. The large guy who fed me for three months hesitated slightly.

"Charlie, the gun," Donald ordered, calmly. Charlie released his gun and handed it over to Donald.

He tucked the gun into his pants and took out the other gun. Staring at it precariously. Then he looked over at us.

"This is all over," Donald said, sounding a little bit sad. "I can't be caught, so I have to hide the evidence."

He said it almost as if he were giving us an explanation. An explanation in search of forgiveness, forgiveness for what was about to happen…oh god. I immediately knew what Naomi was instantly scared of. If Donald had shot Perry and Leo, we were not far behind. He was clearly done picking up the pieces. If law enforcement was on his side, he could wipe himself a clean slate and hide the evidence.

I began struggling against my handcuffs. Desperation flooding my body. Naomi began doing the same. It was pointless, nothing but an act of desperation. But I couldn't just sit here.

Donald spun around and began shooting. I watched in horror as he gunned down everyone in the room, the large men falling to the floor like dolls.  
I couldn't even scream. I only was able to take in a ragged breath when I heard an empty click. The gun was empty. Donald tossed the gun to the floor and reached his hand down for the other one.

Suddenly, everything slowed down. I noticed the only person standing behind Donald was Marie, who was flat against the wall, shaking. Donald turned around to face Naomi and I. In my peripheral I saw Naomi's foot launch upwards. She clocked Donald hard in the groin. Her foot making a dull thump with the impact. Donald dropped to the floor screaming in pain.

Marie flew into action, grabbing the crowbar off of one of the men and slugging Donald over the head with the bar. He dropped face first into the hardwood floor. She then reached for his gun and shot him in the chest.

The gun smoke hung in the air like a cloud. The only sounds that could be heard were the ragged breathing of all three of us.

Suddenly Naomi struggled against her cuffs. The sound snapped Marie out of her stunned stupor and she quickly bent down, fumbling in the pocket of one of the large men, pulling out a set of keys. She released our cuffs and we stood up out of the chairs.

"This isn't over," Marie warned. "Not yet. I still need to get help."

"What about us?" I yelled incredulously. Having been released from the chair was like letting out a bucket of adrenaline. My body was on fire.

Marie shoved the gun into my hand and the crowbar into Naomi's. The heavy weight of the gun felt foreign in my hand. I almost wanted to drop it.

"Run, there's a street outside of this house that leads into a small woodsy area. Run into the woods. Grab yourselves some food. Take the protection," Marie instructed.

"Are you fucking nuts? We need to find a phone! Just call someone!" Naomi yelled. She was obviously just as worked up as I was. I didn't blame her, we had just watched more violence than anyone ever should.

"NO!" Marie shouted, grabbing our attention. She stared down at Donald's body and then yanked both Naomi and I out of the room. "Did you hear him? There are people higher up on his side. People who could harm us, wipe us off the slate faster than what just happened in this room. Everyone's got to cover their ass. Don't you get it? I work for a special agency through the government. We've been on this case for ages. I need to get to a place where I've hidden a cell phone. One that's not bugged. Call my back up. In the mean time, you two need to run, get as far as you can. People will come after you. You need to stay safe until my men come for you."

This was all too much too fast, the emotion of everything that had just taken place caught up with me. Tears filled my eyes.

"Let us come with you. We can't keep running," I said, tears slipping down my face. I was ashamed; ashamed at my weakness, but I didn't know how much longer I could handle this. Naomi's face whipped around to look at me. She unconsciously took a step toward me. Marie's face softened.

"You're safer with each other by yourselves. If you don't hear from me or anyone in three days, take matters into your own hands. God speed," Marie said, and turned around, darting out the door before we could stop her.  
I let out a choked sob, trying to get myself together. A warm hand slid into mine and I turned to meet Naomi's gaze.

"You still have me," she said, softly. She glanced back into the room and shuddered. "But we've got to go."

I nodded and let Naomi pull me out of the hallway. This sick and twisted event taking another fucking turn. Round and round we go.


	17. Chapter 17

**Life. That's my only explanation for why it took me so long to update. I know you understand. It tends to get in the way. Just be thankful none of us are in Naomi and Emily's positions right now. It's the little things, yeah? : ) Another chapter, more action. More something at least. Hope you enjoy it. MASSIVE thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Holy smokes you guys...you're awesome. And awesomely encouraging. Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 17**

Naomi and I ran out into the foyer of the dingy house. My feet were stumbling over themselves and my nerves were shot. My eyes flew around as I tried to wrap my head around what my next move would be.

"Naomi, what do we do?" I found myself saying as I let a minute waste away standing there like an idiot. The desperation in my voice was clear as glass.

Naomi sucked in a deep breath and brought a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes tight. She shook her head back and forth a few times and let out a deep breath. When her eyes opened, they were full of haunting clarity. The blue hue sharp as ever.

"We have to get food and clothes," she said, bolting away from me. I took off after her as she ran down a long corridor and into what was obviously the kitchen. Most of the cabinets were barren and empty, but there was an open cabinet with can after can of soup.

"Go look for clothes, anything, we need to move," Naomi said, turning those sharp blue eyes to look at me. But I could barely move. She was currently functioning for me, whether she knew it or not. I wasn't sure I could move out of her vicinity.

"Emily!" She ordered. My eyes lazily snapped to hers. I felt like I was in a daze. I felt myself blink heavily. Her face softened and she stepped closed to me. "Emily?"

"Emily, look at me. Please," Naomi said, a twinge of fear to her voice as she stepped even closer to me. She was breathing fast and hard. It reminded me to suck in a breath myself. I slowly tried to focus my eyes on hers. Focus on one eye, then the other, then back again.

I felt cold hands slid onto my neck, long fingers wrapping around it, thumbs brushing my face. I watched Naomi take a breath, and reminded myself to take another one.

"I need you," Naomi said. "I really need you right now Ems. You can fall apart later, and I promise with every fiber of my being that I'll be there to catch you, but I need you right now."

I felt a small ounce of warmth makes its way up my spine, and it seemed to melt some of the shock out of my brain. I found myself breathing easier, and feeling my arms and legs again. Naomi's thumbs brushed over my face again.

"It takes two to tango, yeah?" she said softly, but holding my gaze hard. "You are my partner. I need my partner. I need that fiery mouth of yours and that quick-acting brain."

"I need you too," I whispered out, finally finding my voice. Naomi smiled a wide smile. Brief, but true. The warmth continued to spread through my body and it was as if I had been given a shot of adrenaline. My heart started pounding again as the numbness wore off. Everything flooded back to me.

There were seven people dead in a room down the hall. Marie was running to get help. The right help. Naomi and I had to run because the wrong help could show up at any time. We needed clothes. We needed food. We needed to move.

"I'll find some clothes," I said. Naomi didn't waste anytime. She nodded at me before taking off to figure out the food situation.

My feet carried me back into the long hallway. I ran half way down it and passed a stair case leading upstairs. I slid to a stop on the hardwood floor, turned around and bolted up the staircase, taking two steps at a time. I reached the top to find a large attic-type room. It was all one large space with numerous couches, vodka bottles, ash trays and burger wrappers.

I quickly scanned the room and noticed a ladder off to the side. Running over to it, I looked up and noticed it led into another room. I climbed up the ladder and entered a lavishly decorated room. Plush bedding, fine furniture, but most important, an incredibly large closet.

"Yes," I said, under my breath as I threw open the doubles doors to the closet. The second the doors opened, I gasped and backed up. My hand reached up to cover my mouth, muting my involuntary scream.

Inside the closet was polaroid after polaroid of dozens of teenagers. Every one of them looking to be asleep. The photos were only of the heads, and every head appeared to be laying on white pillows. Each photo was lined up neatly. In a twisted checker board fashion.

My eyes ran over every individual face. I scanned at least 40 before a flash of red caught my eyes. A rip of horror ran through my body as I laid my eyes on my own photo.

There it was. My own head shot. It was tacked up with a green tack, surrounded by numerous other unknown faces. Faces of those who got away. There was a large, angry looking mark on the corner of my photo. That was what had caught my eye.

My eyes darted around the board and they quickly found another red mark. It was the photo of Naomi. It suddenly occurred to me, with a sickening thought, that these photos were taken when we were probably drugged out. Nausea ran through my system. I felt like throwing up. These were photos of everyone ever kidnapped, probably straight after the kidnapping.

As if the doors to the closet had burned me, I let go and spun around the room, finally letting the details sink in. This was obviously Donald's room. I shuddered involuntarily.

Right then, was when my eyes fell on a large window. I ran up to the window, squishing my face up against the glass.

Marie was right, we were in the middle of nowhere. The house was obviously still in the country somewhere. There was a road that ran out about 50 feet from the house, and one end of the road ran straight into the woods. The other led into a town. I could make out the top of a church and a few other buildings over the rolling hills.

"Emily?" I heard Naomi's shushed voice called out from the room below me.

"I'm up here," I called out, and peered out the window again. I heard Naomi climb up the ladder.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice giving away her slight annoyance. I looked over my shoulder to see her head popping up through the hole.

"There's a town over the hills," I said. "On the other side."

"We need to go into the woods," Naomi countered. "Marie said..."

"But if there's a town, then there's probably a working phone," I argued.

"We don't know who is safe and who isn't. I'm safe and your safe. I need you to trust ME on this one," Naomi said, a slight fire in her voice. If fear wasn't rippling with each one of her words, I might have outwardly accused her of mocking me. Mocking me for making her trust me enough to climb into a metal box.

"I know, I just..." I started.

"I know, I really do," Naomi said, sounding genuine. And of course she did. She was the only person on this entire planet who could possibly even come close to understanding what I'm feeling. "Did you find any clothes?"

Crap. My eyes flew around the room and I spotted and fancy, mahogany armoire. I jetted over to it and threw open the second drawer and stumbled across numerous long sleeved shirts.

I heard Naomi climb the rest of the way into the room. She had an empty duffle bag in her hand, and a full one over her shoulder. She ran up beside me and began stuffing the shirts into the bag. My arm shot out to stop her.

"No, those are Donald's," I said, my eyes involuntarily flickering over to the closet. I didn't like the idea of wearing his clothes.

Naomi ignored me and shut the drawer after removing a few shirts, then opening the one below it, finding several pairs of jeans and training pants. After throwing a few pairs into the duffle bag she slammed the door shut and grabbed my arm, pulling me over to the ladder. She froze, turned around and opened another drawer, tossing a few pairs of socks into the duffle bag before zipping it up. I mentally kicked myself. Naomi was on her feet and thinking deep, I needed to catch up, or any mistake could be our last.

I briefly contemplated showing Naomi the closet, but dread washed over me as I realized we had already wasted precious, precious time.

We climbed down the ladder, flew down the stair case and ran out of the house in a matter of minutes. Naomi handed me the duffle bag with the clothes in it and we took off down the road toward the woods.

The woods were at least four or five miles away from the house and after a few minutes of running, I held my arm out to slow Naomi down.

"Running...is pointless," I said in between large intakes of breath. The air of cold and my lungs ached.

Naomi stopped and looking around us, letting out a ragged breath of her own.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, shifting her duffle bag over to her other shoulder. She began moving again, this time only walking. I quickly followed.

"How's your ribs?" I asked, trying to fill the silence. My brain was whirring, I needed to talk.

"They ache, but not as badly," Naomi said, turning to look at me. "How's your back?"

"Same," I said, kicking a stray rock with my foot. It tumbled across the asphalt of the road.

"What are we going to do once we get into the woods?" Naomi asked suddenly.

My head snapped to look at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slowly.

"I mean, Marie said to give it three days. Three days, then follow our own means. What do we do? I grabbed enough food and water for about a week if we ration it. But then what?"

I dropped my head to stare at my feet. Watching each step I took.

"We'll tackle that when it comes," I said, not able to come up with any other solution.

"This isn't just a game, Emily. This is us, in very cold weather in the woods, fighting for our lives," Naomi chastised.

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped. "I don't know. My guess is as good as yours. I meant our best shot is to wait out the three days, then make a plan. Every fucking minute has brought something new. It's sort of hard to think ahead."

"Obviously," Naomi said.

"Obviously," I fired back.

"Obviously...don't you think I know that?" Naomi scoffed. I let out a sigh and looked over at her, not up to arguing. Then I saw the corners of her mouth twitch. I shoved her hard.

"Oh fuck off," I said, letting myself laugh. The sound foreign to my ears. I wish I could take moments like these and bottle them up. Save them for later use. Happy moments were very few and far between at the minute.

"You're right," Naomi said, stepping in line with my walking and moving close. "We'll see what these next few days bring us."

We continued walking for another half hour, the woods slowly getting closer. The sun was preparing to go down. I bit my lip, wondering what we were going to do come nightfall.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound. I stopped my walking, but Naomi continued. Her feet crunching in the gravel muffled the sound.

"Naomi, stop moving," I ordered. My voice cutting through the cold air sharply. The crunching gravel noises paused. I looked behind us on the road and squinted my eyes. What was that sound?

I listening, and realized it was getting closed. Then it hit me.

"That's a car, a car coming!" I said quickly.

"Fuck me, it is," Naomi said. She looked at me. "What do we do?"

From our position on the road, we could see one small hill and then another behind it. I saw a moving vehicle come over the first hill, about two miles away from us. The car was white and had something on the top. As it got closer, I noticed it looked like lights.

"It's a police car," I said, once it hit me.

"Oh fuck," Naomi breathed out. Oh fuck was right. The police were, in all it's irony, absolutely no help to us. We had no idea if they were a part of this whole scheme or not.

I glanced off the side of the road and noticed a small ditch. The road had ditches on either side of it, but this side had marshy looking ones that rolled into long grass. This part of the ditch was tucked away under some long grass. Reacting on gut instinct, I grabbed Naomi's arm and flung her into the small ditch. She landed on the soft ground with a thud, yelping out slightly. With one last glance at the approaching white car, I threw myself on top of Naomi. She yelped out again.

We were face to face. I peered down into her scared eyes and covered her mouth with my hand.

"Shh," I warned, and lowered my face by hers, so we were cheek to cheek. The engine roar of the car got closer. Naomi reach up from behind me and pulled some thick brush over us, causing dirt to cascade around us.

The car was no more than 30 feet away, when I heard the engine slow. The car was stopping. Oh no the car was stopping. It had seen us.

The sound of car tires running over the gravel filled the air, and the car literally stopped no more than about fifteen feet ahead of where we were. Maybe a little more.

I turned my face into Naomi's neck, holding my breath. I felt her hands snake up my waist and grip onto my shirt tightly. I heard a car door shut and footsteps follow it. The footsteps were making a slow path down the road toward us.

My heart was pounding, but I could feel Naomi's heart pounding even harder. The thumping through her ribcage, rattled my own.

I felt something wet hit my cheek. The cheek that was against Naomi's. She was crying. Naomi was crying. I willed myself not to react. Not to be stupid and give us away. I slowly lifted my opposite hand and wrapped it around Naomi's neck, rubbing her cheek with my thumb. Exactly how she had done with with me earlier. I didn't have the luxury of calming her down with my words, but I was hoping this would do.

The footsteps stopped abruptly some few feet away from us. I felt Naomi's grip on my shirt tighten. My grip on her neck tightened. Neither one of us were breathing.

A cackle came through the air. A radio cackle.

"Car 4699, are you there?" the radio cackled out. The foot steps drew father away from us. I felt both Naomi and I let out huge, quiet breaths. Then sucking in another in succession.

"I'm here," said a man's voice.

"There was a reported disturbance at the White residence. You are the closest squad car, could you go check out the perimeter?"

"We've already been informed of Mr. White. I'm trying to find some suspected people involved," said the man. I instantly froze on the spot. Was he talking about us?

"It's almost dark. We're an hour walk anywhere. Do that in your off time, Browning. We need you at the White Residence."

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit," the man said. A few seconds later I heard the car door slam, and the sound of the car reversing and driving back in the direction it came from.

I let my body relax on top of Naomi's for a brief second, trying in vain to get my breathing back on track. That was way to close. Way way way to close. And the most ironic part of it, is that "our presence" was what caused that police officer to look for us, and then leave. Once again, merely still being alive was causing us hell.

"My god, the police really are involved," Naomi said. My eyes snapped to hers, and I became suddenly aware of how close we were. I sheepishly rolled off her body, and opened my mouth to apologize, but noticed it hadn't even affected Naomi. Her mind was elsewhere.

"Yeah," I said, not being able to offer up much else.

"We will wait until night fall to move again," Naomi said. I nodded at her sudden idea. That was a good plan. I shivered against Naomi, despite her body heat.

She sat up and reached over to the duffle bag I had been carrying. She pulled out four large long sleeve shirts and two pairs of large pants.

"It's not much, but put these on," she said, handing me two shirts and one of the pants. We both tucked ourselves into the much-too-large clothing. Even though these were Donald's clothes, and they weren't much protection, they offered something against the biting cold.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

Naomi shook her head.

"I'm not either," I said.

Naomi sat, with her back against the upslope of the ditch. She put her head in her hands. Her body shivered softly. I heard her teeth chatter. For someone who was pretty long, she looked remarkably tiny.

In the distance two muffled gun shots rang out, startling me to lean back into the ditch, opposite Naomi. What? More gun shots? Who was left? What was going on?

"We are giving Marie 24 hours," Naomi said sharply. I glanced at her, and in the setting sunlight, I could see that startling clarity in her blue eyes again. "That's it. We are giving her 24 hours before we do something. We will not be waiting ducks. We will not be shot. We will not die."

I nodded dumbly. Willing her to be right. Willing her plan to work.

But in the meantime, in this ditch, we were nothing more than a pair of sitting ducks...


	18. Chapter 18

**Well, thanks to a random snow storm in my area, I got the day off work! And some more time to slam out a chapter. The longest one yet I think, hope it's not an issue. Things are taking a real turn here, and I hope you're all still with me. I strive to entertain! : ) **

**You readers, reviewers and alert-ers are too great. Too great. I'm ever so gracious, and hoping you continue to enjoy this hurricane of a plot I'm setting up. **

**Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 18**

Night came sooner than I'd hoped. Naomi and I were encased in darkness, yet again. Darkness was our theme song, if we had one. It was dark, cold, twisty and confusing as hell. And I hated it with every bone in my body.

We hadn't brought up the gun shots again. Having been so close to the receiving end of a bullet far too many times, we both reached an unspoken agreement not to bring it up. It would do nothing but stuff our already over-stuffed bodies with more fear.

In the mean time, the nights were getting colder and tonight was no exception. Both of our teeth were chattering so loudly, there would be no way to hide from anyone now.

"We should go," Naomi's quite voice broke through the air.

"Yeah," I said.

Neither of us made an attempt to move. The muscles in my back were aching from the shivering. I didn't know how I was going to make it through the night.

"We really need to go," Naomi said again.

"Yeah," I offered back.

Still neither of us moved.

It was painful. We were on the last leg of this situation, that we were certain of. Whether the ending involved our freedom or our death, we weren't sure of. But the ending was drawing near. I could feel it in my blood. I briefly wondered if that had any reason to do with my violent shivering. Fear taking form in the never ending cold and darkness.

"Moving will help us warm up," Naomi said.

"Yeah," I said, but this time my voice didn't sound as robotic. Naomi had a point. Moving would at least get the blood flowing. Give our minds something else to work on.

I was the first to move, pushing the protective brush away from us and standing upright. My back cracked angrily at me. I winced.

I felt Naomi move up next to me. The night was cloudless, the moon providing a shocking amount of light now that we were out in the open. I was suddenly grateful and incredibly scared. There wasn't absolute darkness, but instead, there was now an excellent way to get caught by a watching eye.

"We should walk in this ditch for as long as it goes," Naomi said, seeming to read my mind. I nodded.

She started moving in front of me toward the woods. I was hot on her tail, irrationally thinking if I got more than a few feet away from her, something would happen.

"Emily, you're going to trip me," Naomi said, turning her head back to look at me briefly. I almost detected a hint of amusement to her voice.

I paused and fell back a few footsteps behind her. Naomi wordlessly reached her hand back behind her. Her elbow rested on her hip, but her hand jutted out for me to grab. I didn't hesitate linking my cold fingers with hers in front of me. Grateful for the connection.

We walked for a few minutes in silence. The only sound running through the air was our controlled breathing. The sound was new to me. I was so used to reading Naomi's different ragged breathing. Trying to gauge how freaked out she was. I longed for us to return to the days in our white rooms. Where I had the time and freedom to pick that ever-complicated brain of hers.

"What do you reckon Marie is doing?" I found myself asking.

Naomi tipped her head back, releasing a breath. Fog withered up away from her mouth and disappeared into the sky.

"She's sure as hell not heading into the dark woods where it's fucking freezing," Naomi gave as her answer.

I tugged lightly on her hand.

"Come on," I said, trying to keep the begging tone out of my voice. Sarcastic Naomi had it's time and place, but now wasn't it.

"If she's truly working with in a team, then she's probably figuring out a way to break in," Naomi said.

"That's true," I said, unconsciously falling in line one step closer with Naomi, trying to avoid her feet. "That's almost scarier."

"Why?"

"Because if she's apart of a team, and they're trying to figure out a way to break into this whole thing, it really means it is far, far bigger than either of us know," I said.

I saw Naomi nod her head.

"I'll be interested to find out exactly WHAT this is," Naomi said. "Assuming we're found."

"I don't know if I want to know," I said, suddenly remembering the closet full of polaroids.

"Didn't you once say not knowing is worse than knowing?" Naomi said, turning her head back to glance at me again.

"Well, I have yet to tell you about what I found in Donald's room," I said, stumbling over the baggy jeans I was wearing. I ran straight into Naomi. "Fuck, sorry."

She helped me upright, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"What about Donald's room?" she asked, cutely brushing off my shoulders and back, as if I had actually fallen into the brush or something.

"When I went..." I started.

"Shhh, do you hear that?" Naomi said suddenly, interrupting me. Her hand flew over my mouth in a deja vu reversal of roles. Assuming she was hearing another car, my head immediately broke from her hand as I scrambled up the ditch back to the road looking back and forth.

"Hear what?" I whispered back. Naomi scrambled up onto the road with me. She looked toward the woods, then back where we came from. A confused look passed through her features.

"I thought I heard another engine," she said.

"Wouldn't we see headlights?"

"You'd think, but you never know," she said.

"It's remarkably light outside, we'd see a moving object," I said confidently. My eyes were now fully adjusted to the moonlight, and most things were crystal clear. We were only about 50 feet or so away from the forest now.

I tugged on Naomi's hand to keep walking. I only took about three steps before I heard what she was probably talking about. It was a light rumble. I froze on the spot.

"You heard that, didn't you?" Naomi asked. She didn't need a verbal answer, she knew I had. I could tell by the way her grip tightened around my hand.

"What is that?" I asked, spinning around. I quickly took a survey of our surroundings. The forest wasn't very wide, but it had appeared to be long when we were approaching it earlier on the hill. On one side of the forest was a farm house. An abandoned Farm house, you could tell. The doors and windows were smashed in. On the other side was a slope that led somewhere I couldn't see. I hadn't really noticed it until now.

It was on the same side of the road we were standing on and the start of the odd slope was about 40 feet away from us. It looked like a natural curve of the slopping hills. It just seemed oddly placed right next to some woods.

The sound was getting louder. It definitely wasn't a car, and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"Is it coming from the woods?" Naomi asked.

I jutted my head forward and turned my right ear toward the woods, as if it would allow me to hear better. It confirmed Naomi's suspicion. With the sound growing nearer, it sounded more and more like it WAS coming from the woods. That wasn't a good thing at all.

"Get in the ditch," Naomi ordered. I didn't waste anytime complying. I leaped down back into it, sticking my arms out to secure Naomi's jump. I began running toward the woods.

"Emily, stop! What are you doing?" she asked, taking off after me. I halted and turned around to face her.

"Where are we going to run to other wise?" I asked, flinging my arms around to gesture to the never-ending nothingness surrounding us. "They won't immediately expect us to have run off into the woods now will they?"

Naomi's eyes scanned my face quickly, then she nodded curtly.

"Right, fuck. Good point. Brain is off," she said, shaking her head. She gently pushed me to start running again.

The dull roar suddenly got louder. I halted on the spot again, and Naomi ran full speed into me, knocking us over. We both scrambled upright.

"What the fuck is that?" Naomi asked, her voice giving away her fear. I could do nothing but dumbly spin around trying to find anything in the moonlight. Something caught my ears.

"It's coming from that slope," I gasped out, as the realization hit me. Something was coming up that slope, and fast.

I ran the few feet over to the edge of the hill and peered over, feeling Naomi reach next to me.

My eyes zeroed in on an object flying at us quickly.

"HOLY FUCK," Naomi screamed, and grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and dragged me away from the hills edge, up from the ditch and onto the pavement. The roar grew frighteningly loud and my body collided with the asphalt as Naomi threw us down on the ground. Our duffle bags went flying.

I barely had enough time to look back behind me when I saw a bright flash. I hid my head in my arms from the blinding light and a woosh of air gusted past me. Something extremely loud flew past my head, no more than two feet away. I smelled gas.

I looked up to see a motorcycle spinning around on the road and screech to a stop. A foot reached down to steady the bike, but that's all I could make out in the blinding light of it's headlight.

I was too stunned to do anything. My arms screamed at me. They were obviously scratched up from the fall, but I was fucking grateful. That motorcycle would have killed us. Once again, Naomi's fast thinking had saved us. But for how long? Who the hell was this? What was going on?

The light was suddenly turned down, and I could make out the shape of a figure on the motorcycle. A figure with a black knit-mask. My stomach practically splattered out on the concrete.

"Good evening ladies," the voice said. It surprised me because it was the voice of a woman.

As my eyes adjusted back from the bright light, I saw her arm reach behind her and pull something out. Seconds later I heard a scarily familiar click. The click of the safety on a gun being released.

The gun came into focus, and I noticed she was waving it. Her blurry voice broke through my shocked haze and because clear.

"Stand up," she ordered. The two of us scrambled to our feet. "Are you Emily and Naomi?"

"Who's asking?" I fired off, randomly. The adrenaline forcing my mouth to work at inappropriate times again. Naomi was a fast actor and I was a fast talker.

"Of course you're Emily and Naomi," she said with a laugh. "Who else would be walking around in the state you two are in."

She hopped of her motorcycle, but left it running. She laid the handgun on the seat and walked a few steps toward us, pulling something out of her pocket.

Naomi instinctively stuck her body partially in front of me. My heart wrenched at the selfish action. It lurched such a random burst of emotion through my body, I couldn't help but sling my arms around her hips and pulled her closer into me.

"Sorry girls, I had to make sure it was you. I'm with the local station in the town back down this road. I was told there were two girls on the run from the situation we stumbled across at the infamous White residence," she said, her voice warm.

My tired self wanted to feel relief, but my brain wouldn't let me. It knew better.

"The White residence?" I asked, playing dumb. I felt the muscles in Naomi's stomach clench. Probably wondering what the hell I was doing.

"Yes, the house you were just in? It's notorious in the town for partying. The law enforcement is very familiar with them," the woman said. She pulled off her black knit mask and held out her wallet with another hand. She had short, choppy brown hair, crooked teeth and a scar that ran down her jaw. I glanced at the wallet over Naomi's shoulder and noticed an official looking identification card. She quickly whipped it closed.

"The names Patty Marshall. I was sent on the hunt for two girls who were spotted running away. I'm glad I found you, it's right cold outside," she said, bringing her arms up to hug herself, shivering loudly.

Something was off. Something was very off.

"Oh god, I'm so glad you've found us," Naomi said. I had to use all my will power not to look at her like she'd lost it. That was an awfully odd thing to come out of Naomi's mouth, but she sounded convincing.

Patty smiled.

"My pleasure," she said, pulling a cellphone out of her pocket. "Let me just call in my guys, and we can get a car out to pick you two up. Get this thing sorted."

"You have a cellphone?" I said, jumping on a gut instinct. "Oh my gosh, can I call my mum?"

This time Naomi actually turned her head to frown at me. Her face was hidden from Patty's view at the angle, but I could definitely read her "what the fuck," expression. Clear as day. We were both on missions. We just had no clue what the other was doing.

"When I'm done with the call," Patty said politely.

"Can't you use your radio?" I asked.

"My radio?" Patty repeated.

"Yeah, your police radio or whatever."

Patty's eyebrows raised and she looked back to her still running motorcycle.

"OH!" She blurted out and laughed. "That isn't an official vehicle. That's my own bike. I didn't want to take a police car, easier to get around this way."

I frowned. Something was still off, but I couldn't figure out what. I still didn't entirely understand who the hell she was. The only things running through my brain were Marie's words. Don't trust anybody.

"Oh that makes sense," Naomi said, obviously lying through her teeth. "We're just anxious to talk to our parents."

"I'm sure you are," Patty said not noticing, and moved her thumb to push a button.

"What town did you say you were from?" I blurted out, for some reason I felt like I couldn't let her make that phone call.

Her eyes reached up to meet mine.

"I didn't," she said slowly.

"What is the name of that town?" I asked.

"Just let me make this phone call girls and then you can ask all the question you would like," she said.

I pinched Naomi's hip.

"Why'd you come from the woods?" Naomi blurted out. Patty sighed, and let the arm holding her phone hang down by her side.

"What?"

"Why'd you come from the woods? We've been walking on this road since we left, we didn't see you come," Naomi pointed out. The flaws in this Patty's story were growing larger. She hadn't named the town and she had come from the middle of nowhere. She didn't let us properly see her identification and left her bike running. She had a cell phone and while she let us see her identity, she still approached with the same masks as our original captors.

"Yeah, and who saw us running away? I haven't seen anybody around," I said. I was trying to play dumb, but my fear was forcing suspicion into my voice fast.

I knew something wasn't right, but this was beginning to scare me. This was a carefully thought out persona if this Patty wasn't someone good. It left even more questions unanswered.

Patty flipped her phone shut and put it in her pocket, slowly. She took a deep breath and smiled an ugly smile.

"Wow, you two really aren't that stupid are you?" she said, her friendly demeanor instantly gone.

Naomi backed up into me. Both of us stepped back away from her. Her smile grew wider.

"I had heard about you two. Heard you were giving Donald some real trouble. Made a bunch of us here nervous," Patty said, slowly moving toward her motorcycle.

I instantly remembered the gun. Feared put me in panic mode. I didn't want another gun pointed at my face. I couldn't handle it.

Before I could register what my body was doing I launched myself at Patty, knocking the two of us over on the concrete. Hard. My head had slammed into the road on the impact, causing a throb to rip through my head and I lost my grip on Patty.

She rolled away from me and bolted upright. I looked up to find Naomi had beaten Patty to her motorcycle, and was now pointing the gun straight at Patty. I tried to push myself up from the concrete, but ended up being pulled up by Patty who stuck me in front of her body. Using me a body shield against Naomi and her gun.

Her cold, hard hands gripped my body, squeezing tightly. Fuck me, she was strong.

Naomi had that startling look of clarity in her eyes again, but her body betrayed her. Her arms were shaking violently as she pointed the gun. I was suddenly terrified of her. Well, not her, but of her body. Her finger was teetering on the trigger. One wrong move could cost me my life.

"Who are you really?" Naomi asked.

"My name isn't Patty," she said with a laugh. Her breath was foul. I could smell it from over my shoulder.

"Really," Naomi deadpanned. I locked eyes with her. Trying to give her a look that clearly said this wasn't the time for sarcasm.

"Who are you," Naomi asked, seeming to get her arms to stop shaking so hard.

"I live in that town over those hills. But to answer one of your questions, it's not a real town. None of this us. Donald grew all of this from scratch. He was a drunk bastard, and drunk on power. But he had power, lots of it. And lots of money. A little off in the head too, paying loads of people to create his own utopian town."

"What the fuck?" I said, not recognizing my own voice.

"What?" Naomi asked, her arms faltering a little bit. Lowering slightly from confusion. "You're saying that Donald created...all of this?"

Patty, or not-Patty, nodded her head. She pulled me farther into her body out of protection. I squirmed.

"He's paid all of us to keep a town he envisioned up and running. We've been doing this for two years now. Not a god damn hiccup in the system. The entire thing was flawless, until you two," she said.

"Everybody keeps saying that, as if WE'RE to blame, and fuck me if I'm wrong, but if our presence cocked up everything for you guys, then who's to blame on your side? It's not as if we willy nilly decided to up and get fucking kidnapped," Naomi snapped.

It startled me. Anger was rolling off of Naomi. She was a passionate being. She felt a lot, when she let herself. But I had never heard her vocalize her emotions so...emotionally before. Patty laughed lightly.

"There was a mole, somewhere," she said. My thoughts flew to Marie. "The whole point of this entire shenanigan was to continually bring in enough funds to run Donald's utopia. Kidnap relatively unknown people. People with relatively unknown families. Families who are a bit a pansy. You know, people who, given the right amount of threat, would wordlessly cave into any financial transaction asked."

I couldn't even wrap my head around what she was saying. I had imagined this business involving a shit load of people, but I had no idea it involved an entire fucking town. Let a lone a town Donald himself had created. He truly was a sick and twisted man. That closet of photos was just the beginning.

"And Emily isn't unknown," Naomi said, her arms recovering and raising again. Steady as ever.

"No, she isn't. And your mother isn't a pansy," Patty said.

"No she fucking isn't," Naomi snapped. Patty sighed.

"Any more questions?" she asked, sounding bored.

"How many of you are there," Naomi asked. I felt Patty chuckle.

"Far many than you realize and we're all accessories to this thing. Which means we'd do anything to protect what we've established. If only to save our own asses," she said.

"Meaning you're not about to let two measly teens ruin it all for you?" Naomi asked.

"Precisely."

Cold fear made my body shudder. I tried to catch Naomi's gaze but her eyes were hard set on Patty.

"Would we have a shot at getting out of here through the woods?" Naomi asked.

"In normal circumstances, yes, but now you wouldn't make it. That fucking suicide mission everyone in the house decided to go on has got the entire town in a tizzy. They think it's a sign, that Donald killed himself for a reason. That we might be close to getting caught. In fact, two police members killed themselves after they saw the mess," Patty said.

That immediately caught my attention. That's what the gun shots must have been. Did the members of that town honestly think those men had all killed themselves? Is this what Marie meant when she said this was entirely out of our control? How many people were involved? And more importantly, how many of them were utterly brainwashed?

"We weren't in the room when it happened," Naomi said. "We ran once they killed themselves. They told us the town would take care of us."

I sucked in a short breath. What was Naomi playing at?

"We would. This is why I came out to get you. The town is devastated over Donald's death, but we want to keep our livelihood in tact. You can come live with us in the town. We will spare your lives. We are not about violence," Patty said.

"What?" I cried out again, simply out of confusion. Naomi and I had only experienced violence.

"You girls don't understand. Donald has been an incredible voice of reason for us. Provided all of us with a direction in our lives. We were all lost, every last one of the town members. But Donald saved us. Those men, those men who handled you. They were just scared. Frightened at what we were all potentially losing. That's why you have suffered. But we are not a town of suffering. If you come with me, we can help you," Patty said. Her voice had a haunting twinge of truth to it. My head spun. She believed every piece of bullshit that came out of her mouth. You could tell. She was brainwashed. She was just as psycho as Donald, just as the whole town probably was. Oh my fucking god. This was too much. Too surreal, like something out of a fucking movie. I couldn't breath.

Patty's arms suddenly felt like hot fire. I needed them off of me now. I struggled against her grip, but she held me tighter.

"Naomi, love, put down the gun and we can talk about our future together," Patty said.

"You're off your fucking rocker," Naomi yelled back, finger laying on the trigger.

Realizing Patty wasn't going to let go, I lurched my body forward, slamming us both into the concrete, and rolled over fast. Patty easily had quite a few pounds on me, but I was tiny, and managed to crawl on top of her and pin her arms down before she could react. Patty cried out in pain.

"Shoot her Naomi, I can't hold her for long," I yelled at Naomi.

As if someone had punched her, Naomi literally knocked herself off her feet and stumbled forward. Her eyes bulging wide.

"I can't, you're on top of her," Naomi said, fear lacing her words.

Patty began to struggle against me. I used all of my strength to keep her down, but I knew time was against me.

"I'll roll off!" I screamed, not caring if Patty heard. Naomi just needed one clean shot.

"No!" Naomi screamed, her arms shaking again. "You're too close. I can't hurt you."

"You don't have a choice," I said, not believing how harsh that came out. It was fear talking now, not me. Naomi didn't have a choice. Our reality, and everything we had believed was quickly crumbling. The only thing I could think to do was to rid ourselves of this woman and make our next move.

"On three," Naomi said, her voice wavering, her arms shaking hard.

"NO!" Patty yelled. "We can help you girls! I swear on it. You'll feel the..."

"Shut up!" Both Naomi and I yelled at the same time.

"One," I yelled, trying to get Naomi to focus. Patty lurched hard underneath me. I pushed her face into the concrete and stood up over her, holding her down with my feet. She swiped behind her and tried to take me out.

"Two," Naomi said, taking a step closer, aiming the gun.

Patty finally managed to trip me, and I felt my body hit the concrete again. It screamed at me, but I rolled as fast as I could away from her. She pulled herself to her feet.

"NOW NAOMI NOW!" I shrieked, curling my body up into a ball and covering my eyes.

I heard three shots fire. They echoed off the hills. I heard a body slump onto the road, realizing with a start, that that sound should never be as familiar to anyone as it was to us.

I instantly got myself to a standing position, my body screaming at me. It had taken a pounding. I glanced over to Patty's body. It was twitching helplessly, three gunshots spread over her torso. Blood was pouring out quickly.

The next sound I heard was metal hitting the asphalt and a splatter of liquid. Naomi had thrown up.

She was leaning over, holding onto her knees, crying so hard she was coughing and dry-heaving. Guilt rattled me. I flew over to her, wrapping my arm around her waist.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck," I said, not knowing what else to say. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you do that, this is my fault, oh my gosh..."

"It had to happen," Naomi said, letting out a sob. "I've never shot anybody before, though. That was horrible. It probably saved our lives, but that was horrible."

I lifted Naomi's upper half and pulled her into a hug. I held her so tight, her sobs wracked my body. Her arms slid around my neck and held on even tighter, I could barely breath, but I didn't mind.

"I can't...I just..." Naomi said, quietly after a minute. Her sobs had stopped shortly before and she seemed to be gathering herself quickly.

"That was horrible. This entire thing is horrible. We're going to need a lot of therapy," I said, with out thinking.

Naomi's body shook again, but this time with laughter. She laughed so hard, I momentarily wondered if she had really finally lost it. I stared down at her bent over body in shock.

"We are. Fuck. Is there even a therapist qualified enough? If we find them we have to send her here to this town," Naomi said, wiping a tear out from underneath her eye once her laughter subsided. She shot me a wry smile and I gave her a small one back. Not quite finding the humor in it. Then again, I hadn't just shot somebody.

"Where ever here is," I said, sadly. My words quickly sobered Naomi back up.

"This really is fucked," she said, turning around and eyeing the motorcycle. "Do you know how to work one of these things?"

"No," I said. My dad was big into motorcycles, and I knew enough to know it had far too many gears for me to figure out. Naomi sighed, then her eyes lit up as she ran over to Patty's body on the road. She carefully lifted her leather jacket and pulled at the cellphone.

She opened it up and quickly started dialing.

"Wait!" I said.

"What?" she asked.

"Do you think that cell phone is bugged?" I asked, the thought hitting me like a ton of bricks. After Patty's revelation, literally nothing was off the table.

Naomi's face registered shock. She pushed a few more buttons on the phone, when it suddenly rang. She looked up at me.

"Should I answer it?" she asked.

I ran over to her and grabbed it out of her hand. Naomi had just shot someone, it was my turn to step up. I flipped open the phone, not immediately talking into it.

"Erin? Erin are you there? We need you back. We're taking a count of everyone in the town to figure out who's missing. See if we can figure out the mole," a voice said. I dropped the phone like it was on fire.

"Erin? Answer me, please. Hello? Anyone there?" the phone said from the road. Naomi and I started silently at me.

"Do you need help? We've got your location on the GPS, I'm sending out Roger, okay? Hang tight," the voice said and hung up.

My eyes snapped up to meet Naomi's.

"Grab the gun," she said, her voice hard. I immediately ran over to the gun, lifting the heavy object. Naomi had run to grab our duffle bags, which had been abandoned about ten feet back. I quickly threw the gun into my duffle.

"What about the phone?" I asked, rushed.

"If it's got a GPS on it, there's not way in hell we're taking it," she said.

"Duh," I said, berating myself. Mistakes like that will get us killed.

"Doesn't matter, we need to run," Naomi said grabbing my arm.

I threw the duffle bag over my shoulder and took off after Naomi. Away from Patty's dead body. Away from the disillusioned town. Away from this Roger guy who was on his way. And hopefully on our way to somewhere Marie could help us and give us some normal fucking answers. That is if the town doesn't figure her out before she gets help. And that is if she truly is here to help us, and isn't just another brainwashed town member.

As our feet pounded into the road and we drew into the woods, I fought the incoming panic attack. Every minute this situation grew bigger, and I was absolutely terrified at what the second minute was going to bring.


	19. Chapter 19

**Major kudos to you awesome, awesome readers. Thank you for keeping with this slightly insane story. Coming back to the reviews has been great. And a not-too-shabby form of motivation either! It's a struggle for me to end each chapter, because I want to keep it going. The problem with stopping is I've been changing this stuff around a bit each chapter. Switching up the surprises. So, once again, I'm thrilled you still find this entertaining and are staying with it.**

**Here's to another chapter, and more development. And I'd also like to add that I had a right laugh over lazyboo's comment about the characters Scooby-Doo-ness in spilling out loads of information before their deaths, because I actually thought the same thing. It's a bit unoriginal, i'll admit, but I have all this information in my head to aid the story and I have to find some way to get it out! Expect more similar delves of information. : )**

**Skins isn't mine, only the nutty thoughts in my brain are.**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 19**

"Naomi, I have to stop," I said. We had been running for a good fifteen minutes and my lungs were on fire. Exercise wasn't my biggest forte'. My dad had ensured my twin and I weight-lifted, but he was always pretty lenient on the cardio. I was shocked Naomi was running as fast as she was, as she mentioned she used to practically chain smoke before all of this.

I leaned over on my knees, putting one hand over my mouth in attempts to warm up the air I was sucking in. It was fucking freezing. My hands felt three times their size and were totally numb.

At this point we were well into the woodsy area. The road had turned into a gravel road near the beginning.

"Okay," Naomi said, not putting up a fight, which surprised me.

"Okay?" I asked, making sure I heard her right.

"Yeah, alright. Marie said to stay in the woods. I think we're pretty far in, so we can set up camp somewhere," Naomi said.

I snorted out a laugh.

"With all the camping gear we have?" I asked. It was much darker in the woods, so I was having a harder time seeing her, but I could still see the small smile she shot at me.

I watched in the dark as Naomi lifted up her arm and peered at her wrist, like she had a watch on. She even tapped her wrist and shook it, peering closer.

"I reckon we have about 20 more hours to wait for Marie," Naomi said.

I rolled my eyes.

I think both of us had officially reached the point of no return. In the white rooms, it was all too comfortable to really think about the danger. In the van with Perry and Leo, the fear was all too real to process it. In the hotel room, our lives were in too much danger to stop and think. In the house, everything came crashing down and more facts than I ever thought possible have been slung at us. Now, for the first time, it was just the two of us. We were in a woodsy area where I was confident we'd see any incoming danger. Or at least hear it before it arrives. My brain had finally lost all of it's protective barrier and the absolute shock value was slowly seeping in. Driving us both slowly mad. I wondered how long we would be able to keep a grip. There's only so much two young girls can handle, right? Especially if one of us just shot somebody.

Naomi led us over to a large tree trunk that had some large branches leaning down, providing a bit of protection. She popped a squat on an overgrown root and I sat right next to her, immediately pressing our bodies together for warmth.

I honestly can't believed I went three months with out seeing anybody, touching anybody and lasted through it. Now that i've been spoiled with being no less than five feet away from Naomi at all times, I couldn't imagine not having her in arms reach.

I wasn't stupid though, my feelings for Naomi were spiraling. In what direction, I hadn't a clue, but they were growing. She was right: we did have a companionship. We rode this thing in sync. If there was anything I was grateful for in this entire scheme, it was that it lead me to Naomi. She was also right in the sense that we probably wouldn't have ever spoken before. Our differences on the outside would have provided just enough of a wall to stop us from digging deeper to realize we actually fit well together.

Sure, I fancied girls, but I wasn't sure I liked Naomi like that. Well, I was positive these feelings weren't just that. I suppose, if we were in any other situation, I might have allowed myself to actually like her. She was, after all, strikingly beautiful. She was outright hilarious when she let herself be and she had just the right amount of emotion for me. But in this situation, Naomi was my absolute everything. I wasn't going to cock it up by being such a girl. But that's how my feelings were growing. I couldn't imagine my life with out her, and as I felt the end drawing near, I felt our friendship heading straight toward a roadblock.

"How do you suppose this thing is going to end?" I asked, linking my arm though Naomi's as I felt us both start to vibrate in the cold. The momentary warmth from our run already being blasted out of our bodies by the low temperature.

"Is that a serious question?" Naomi asked. I almost laughed.

"No. I guess not," I said. Naomi nudged me.

"Then why'd you ask?"

"I guess I'm thinking past the end, what ever it is," I admitted. This was no time to lie. No energy to even think up of a lie to cover up my thoughts.

"You mean what we do after?" she asked.

I hummed in response.

"I've thought about that too," she said. But she didn't say anymore.

"In what regards?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

"It'll be weird going back into the real world. Walking on the streets, looking at all the people who haven't been cut, or almost shot, or shot someone," she said, with a gulp at the last part.

"Walking around where when someone peers at you on the street and they'll have no idea what we've been through," I said.

"Exactly. It's a bit odd, right?"

"It is," I confirmed.

"I wonder if we'll both get a spot at Uni out of sheer pity once the press gets ahold of this," Naomi said.

This time it was my turn to lose it. I burst out with laughter, my body shaking hard. It took real effort to quiet myself.

"We can only hope," I said, still chuckling.

Silence fell over us, as I struggled to stop the inappropriate giggles. A thought came to me. The first real world thought I've had in days.

"Where are you planning to go to Uni?" I asked.

"Probably somewhere in London. I like it there. Big cities are home to me," she said, then she looked at me. "You?"

"I had thought about London as well, lots of options. I also thought about just staying in Bristol, to keep close to my friends."

"Real life friends," Naomi said. I felt my heart drop a little it. Is that all she considered me as? A not-real-life friend?

"Yeah," I said, not quite sure what to do with that.

"You should consider London," Naomi said, quietly and suddenly. I had to fight my body not to twitch.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying not to sound hopeful. Trying not to read too deep into what she had just said.

Her hand slid around and covered mine on her arm.

"As you said, lots of options. And you'd be close," she said. And she said it with such a tone that I could tell I should just drop the discussion because she was growing uncomfortable with it. Although, I couldn't help the huge smile that was threatening to take over my face. The smile eventually won, and while it felt foreign on my face, it felt good to stretch the muscles. Naomi would like to be in the same city as me after all of this. There wasn't an expiration date on our new found companionship. It was finally said out loud by Naomi. It brought out a new hope within me.

"Alright," I said, and let the subject go.

"We need to sleep," Naomi said after a few minutes of comfortable silence between us.

"I'm not sure I can," I admitted.

"You can try," Naomi said. She turned to the duffle and pulled out the rest of the shirts she had packed. She handed me two more, and gave herself two. Then handed me a pair of the socks.

"Put on another shirt, and these on your hands, use the other shirt as a pillow," she said, beginning to dress herself. I followed, feeling a bit ridiculous putting ugly, large socks on my hands, but they were already providing a bit of warmth against the cold air.

Naomi rolled up her extra shirt and laid down with her head on the root. Once she was situation, she looked up at me and held out an arm.

"Come on," she said, waving me down with her. I didn't hesitate complying.

I laid down next to her, scooting my back into her front. Her socked hand slid around my waist and pulled me in further.

After a few minutes, I felt her breathing even out, but I was wide, wide awake. I tried counting backwards from 100. Tried naming all the countries I could think of. All of it was useless, I wasn't going to sleep. Even the growing warmth coming from sleeping Naomi wasn't helping.

A twig snapped in the distance what must have been several hours later. I could tell the sun was about to rise. Call me paranoid, but I sat up so quickly it jolted Naomi awake.

"What?" she asked, groggily. I listened for another sound and didn't hear anything else.

"I think I'm being paranoid," I admitted.

"There is no such thing as being paranoid with us anymore. God, can't we just get a few hours to sleep?" Naomi said, a slight whine to her voice. It also struck me how she automatically and without question believed I had heard something, and immediately jumped to attention. What had our lives come too?

Another few twigs snapped. Only this time, it came from the other side.

"Jesus christ," Naomi said, almost sounding annoyed. She reached into the bag and immediately pulled out the gun. I pulled the socks off my hands, mentally pushing my brain into action.

I wasn't feeling fear either at this point. I wasn't entirely sure there was any left in me. Did people have quota's with fear?

Footsteps on the ground became clear as day. I grabbed our duffle bags and pulled them into us, feeling a rip of adrenaline.

"Who's there?" I called out. I was sick and tired of being snuck up on. I wanted these slimy bastards to show their faces. And if it was Marie, I wanted her to stop being so god damn creepy.

Two figures came into focus. They were moving to surround us. I made out one woman and one man. Both dressed in large black puffy jackets. They appeared to be weaponless.

I wordlessly grabbed the gun from Naomi, and hid it in my lap. Her hands were shaking ridiculously hard. I didn't want these guys to see the gun, and it was my turn to step up to the plate. Plus, her nerves were probably officially shot. Holding a loaded weapon would be stupid.

"Emily," she warned under her voice. I blatantly ignored her.

"Are you Naomi and Emily?" the man called out.

"Who's asking?" I blurted out, my body rushing on the adrenaline. The weight of the handgun was also giving me an unknown amount of confidence.

"I'm Roger, and this is Kathy. We're asking," the man said stepping forward.

Roger. This was the guy coming to help Erin.

"Of course it's Naomi and Emily," Kathy said with a laugh. A laugh that made the hair on my arms stand straight. "Who else would be in the middle of these woods in the state they're in?"

"Then there is no need for bullshit is there?" I spat out.

"There is no need to talk like that, young lady," Roger said, condescendingly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, thrown off.

"You're supposed to be proper young ladies. At least your parents should have tried to raise proper young ladies," Roger said.

I felt my eyebrows crease. What the fuck was this? The Twilight Zone?

I heard Naomi swear under her breath. Probably trying to dissect the situation with that brain of hers. I was hoping she'd figured out what the hell was going on because I was currently getting so worked up, I didn't know if I could shut my mouth off.

"Right," I said, feeling these two were looking for an answer.

"Why are you here?" Naomi asked from beside me. I noticed we had pushed ourselves back into the tree trunk. Hypothetically hoping it would swallow us up and let us disappear.

"We've been looking for you. Waiting for you," Kathy said, with a calm smile.

"Waiting?" I asked, wondering if I had heard them right

"I'm sure Erin informed you of a lot. Donald had informed us of your pending arrival. We weren't sure what he was going to do with you. What we hadn't expected was their deaths, but we keep an outlook on the positive. Now you two are in our hands and we get to decide your fate," Roger said.

"Like fuck you do," Naomi said. I felt her tense beside me.

I looked down at the gun in my hand, hidden from their view by my bent knees. I carefully wiggled it open and saw there were three bullets left in the gun. I quietly closed the bullet chamber and took a deep breath.

I hoped it wouldn't come to that, but I felt the blood in my body pound a little bit faster at the thought. I had one shots for each person, and an extra for good luck. In addition to the rushing blood, I felt a wash of guilt. Just the thought of shooting someone made my toes curl. Naomi had actually shot someone. No wonder she threw up.

An even scarier thought was the fact that we only had three bullets. There were more than three people in that town over the hills. It sounded as if everyone knew of our presence. How long could we keep knocking these townspeople out of our way? How long was Marie going to take getting us help. Sneaking a quick glance at Naomi's hardened face, I realized Marie had only a sliver of time to get to us safely. Either it was going to end for us, or we would find some way to end it.

"Language, Naomi darling," Kathy said, tutting. She sounded like a mom and I hated her for it.

"You're expecting our respect. Why should we respect you?" I asked.

A smile spread over Rogers face.

"That's an excellent question, Emily," Roger said. "You don't have much of an idea of what you're working with."

"I think Erin informed us quite well," I said. My voice had dropped few notches on the venom scale. They were confusing me.

"You didn't need to kill Erin," Roger said. He actually sounded upset about it. I felt a rush of anxiousness. Revenge is an awful motivation when you're on the receiving end of pain.

"That wasn't planned," Naomi said.

"But it wasn't stopped," Roger challenged.

"Stop acting like we owe you anything!" Naomi yelled.

"You don't have much of a choice in the matter," Kathy said. She reached behind her, and I didn't hesitate. My hands flew from out of my lap and pointed the gun at Kathy. She froze in place for a second, raking her eyes over me.

I heard another click and a yelp. In a flash of a second Roger had moved over with a much larger hand gun, and was currently holding Naomi close to his body, pointing it to her head. My eyes flew back and forth between the pair of them and Kathy, but I held my arm steady.

She tilted her head back and let out a sigh. Then she pulled out her own gun and pointed it at me.

"Is this how it's going to be Emily?" she asked, sounding bored.

"Stop TALKING to me like I'm five!" I screamed, fed up with the calm act. There were numerous guns out, nobody should be calm.

"Then stop acting like you're five," Kathy countered.

A jolt of annoyance flew up my spine. I think deep down I was getting really angry because Kathy was talking to me like my mum. My mum who never cared much for me. My mum who assumed I was dead.

I looked at Naomi and saw her eyes scrunched shut, and my protective side flared again. Annoyance temporarily pushed town. For her sake.

"What is this? Why are you doing this?" I asked, desperate to buy some time to figure something out. Willing Naomi's quick-thinking brain vibes to flow into mine.

"It's rather simple. We are trying to get you to come with us," Kathy said, with a shrug. "That's all."

"Come with you?" I asked incredulously.

"The town is in hysterics. Your presence will calm everyone down, and we can get to living again," Roger explained.

"We'd like to get to living again too," I said.

"Well, unfortunately ladies, that isn't going to happen as you've hoped," Kathy said.

Naomi's eyes snapped open and her head popped up at that. I felt my own heart start to race.

"I don't think you completely understand everything..." Roger started.

"Of course we don't!" Naomi screeched, breaking her silence. "Nobody explains anything! All we get are confusing tid-bits. You can't possibly believe we're going to go with you unless we understand everything."

"Everything will come out in due time. We don't keep any secrets in our town," Roger said, calmly and condescendingly.

I watched, in seemingly slow motion as Naomi's knee came into direct contact with Roger's groin. He went down in a flash and she grabbed his gun even faster.

A shot ran out. I screamed out of instinct and closed my eyes. When I dared to open them, I saw a white-faced Naomi staring blankly at Kathy. Blood started seeping through the left arm of Naomi's shirts.

"Naomi!" I screamed out, and felt the tears reach my eyes instantly.

My voice seemed to snap Naomi out of her funk and she immediately reached for her wound with her uninjured hand. From the short distance, I could see the bullet had just grazed her, but she was still bleeding pretty quickly. When she peered back over in our direction, her eyes were wild. She pointed the gun straight at Roger and stared back at Kathy.

"I've already shot Erin. I'm not against shooting Roger. Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't," Naomi challenged.

The speediness of the events had momentarily shocked me, but feisty Naomi always managed to spur me into action. My finger released the safety on the gun I was holding.

"With out going into town with us, there will be nobody to stop your mum from getting killed herself," Kathy stated calmly.

The pure pain that flashed through Naomi's eyes rendered me speechless. I bit my tongue hard at the degrading comments I wanted to fly out at Kathy for hurting Naomi like that. I didn't dare move an inch. This was a battle of wills now.

"She won't stop meddling. She's getting too close. Donald sent out two of his guys before he off-ed himself. I can stop it though, if you come with me," Kathy said, taking the silence as an excuse to speak.

Naomi picked up Roger by his shirt and threw him over next to Kathy's feet. He groaned in pain. Naomi waved the gun at me, waving me over to her. I complied quickly.

We stood side by side with our guns pointed at Kathy and Roger. Only five feet away, easy targets. The only road block was Kathy's gun and any more information she could provide.

To my surprise, Kathy bent over and started whispering in Rogers' ear. He nodded a few times and whispered something back. When she stood up straight again, the calm gentle demeanor was gone. It was eerily similar to Erin's quickly changing attitude, and it made me grip the trigger on my gun harder.

"You have one minute to convince us NOT to kill you," Naomi spat out. The pain evident in her voice. I could tell she was struggling. Her motivation fueled purely off of her emotion.

"You won't need to worry about that," Kathy said, handing Roger the gun. He stared at it blankly. "I think Donald was right. In our Sunday prayer meetings, he had always told us about our demons. The demons who would come to destroy what we've created. He told us you might be the demons, but most of us tried not to believe it."

My jaw dropped open and my body started shaking. The insanity level of this situation just stepped up a notch.

"Donald told us that we had to meet you to assess the situation. We've been waiting for three months. I honestly didn't think two teenagers possessed such evil spirits, but I realize i've been wrong."

Another gun shot rang out. I watched in horror as Rogers body slumped to the ground. Blood poured out from his forehead. I had been so busy watching Kathy, I hadn't been paying attention to him.

She bent down and retrieved his gun. Examined it. Rolled it around in her hands for a second.

"We've always known what we've had to do when the end came. I understand now why everyone in that room killed themselves. The demons have come. You two have come. Now we must let go of this life and continue on to the next," she said. She brought the gun up to her head.

"Our deaths will bring yours. I trust. I believe. I hope," she muttered and closed her eyes. "I trust. I believe. I hope. I trust in Donald. I believe in salvation. I hope to be relieved of ever lasting pain. I trust. I believe. I hope."

"NO!" I screamed out, when her words clicked in my brain. But it was futile. A second shot rang out, and Kathy's body slumped down to the ground. We still needed more answers.

My own gun dropped out of my hand and I rushed over to their bodies. My tennis shoe slid in the blood and I fell down. My hand slid into something warm near Roger's thigh. He had wet himself.

I screamed and jetted myself backwards in a crab crawl until I felt my back hit Naomi's legs. My hand flew up to cover my mouth. Feeling the wetness on my mouth from my hand, I gagged. My stomach clenched as I dry heaved. My whole body shook, but nothing came out. I hadn't eaten anything in a day or so. My body had nothing to give.

I couldn't even tally the dead body count at this point. It was too high. Too high for anyone.

I looked up to find Naomi staring blankly at their bodies. Her gun still in hand, but her arm had moved down to her leg.

"Naomi," I called up to her. Trying to snap her out of it. She remained frozen. "NAOMI!"

She looked down at me, her eyes telling me everything. Shock, pain and fear were wildly evident.

"Should we?" she asked me.

I frowned, unable to understand what she was asking. She shook the gun in her hand and then pointed to Kathy and Roger, then back at herself.

"Should we?" she asked again, and her voice is what made it click. The sheer desperation in it.

I slapped the gun out of her hand as fast as lightning. The dull thud on the ground suddenly reminded me of her arm injury. I stood myself up, quickly stripping myself of a layer. I rolled up the shirt and held it against Naomi's arm.

"Don't tell me you've lost it now too," I admonished, not even gracing her with an actual answer. A large part of me knew she wasn't serious. But the fact that she'd even suggested it rattled me.

"I haven't," Naomi said. She brought her free hand up to cover mine, pressing my hand and the shirt harder into her arm.

"Then tell me what the fuck you meant?" I asked, sharply.

"Momentary lapse of judgement," she said.

"Those can get us killed," was all I said.

I slowly removed the shirt to get a better look at her arm. The bullet had definitely grazed her, and there was a line of missing skin, but the bleeding already looked like it was slowing.

I took the shirt and used my teeth and hands to rip one of the sleeves off. It took a few seconds but it finally gave. I wrapped the sleeve around the wound and tied it in a knot. I tucked the rest of the shirt into the waist band of my pants and backed up from Naomi a few feet.

"Do you love your mum?" I asked. I knew I was reaching low here, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Of course I do Emily, don't be daft," she said, rolling her shoulder around a few times and wincing.

"I don't know if you do. She's been fighting. Fighting to find you for three months! Does that even register with you? My mum has given up. My family has assumed me dead, but yours has kept fighting. How do you think she's going to feel if she found out you gave up? HUH?" I shouted.

Naomi at least had the decency to look remorseful.

"She won't care if she's dead," Naomi said.

"All three of these nut jobs have proven that they're crazy as shit," I said. "Do you honestly believe anything they say?"

"They killed themselves over what they believe in. They sounded sure my mum was as good as dead."

"You don't know that until this is over. Who was is that said we wouldn't go down like sitting ducks? Oh that's right, it was YOU, you numbskull."

I hadn't realized I had started crying. A small part of me didn't blame Naomi. She had killed someone, had a gun pointed at her head, been shot at and then watched two more people die in front of her. But a bigger part knew Naomi had more fight in her. She had to.

Silence feel between the two of us. I looked down at my feet and crossed my arms in front of my chest, gently kicking the ground with my toe. A good few minutes passed before Naomi braved a glance in my direction.

"I don't want my mum disappointed in me," she finally said. I felt the irritation drain a bit from my body.

"I didn't think you would," I said.

"But even more, I don't want you disappointed in me," she admitted quietly.

Her admission took me by surprise, but I tried to cover it up. I sniffed softly, quieting my tears and nodded.

"Running is my defense. Always has been. It's easier than facing things," she said.

"The easy way out is never the best way," I said.

"I know it's something you've dealt with far more than I have. It's one of the things I respect most about you," she said.

"What?" I asked, not able to hide my shock at that statement.

"I have reaction, but you have action. You understand all of this will to fight on a deeper level. I know you do. You've dealt with far harder stuff than I have in our short lives. You're the stronger one. I don't want to let you down," Naomi said.

"Then don't," I said, all harshness gone from my voice. Once again, Naomi had collapsed me with her words. She has always been a good listener, but I didn't know she actually listened. Most people in my life had treated me like a pretty ornament on the wall. But Naomi had actually listened to me and my stories over these past three months, taken them in.

"You're right, Emily is the actual fighter, but you're the second part of the equation," a strikingly familiar voice shot through the air.

I jumped, startling myself into a fit. I automatically zipped my body alongside Naomi's and looked around me.

Through the early morning fog, I made out the shape of Marie's body walking toward us hesitantly. Out of instinct, my eyes dropped down to the guns strewn on the floor and back up toward her figure.

"You're the motivation behind Emily's actions. Don't doubt that," Marie said

"You're here," Naomi breathed out.

"I am, and I've got a plan. But you two need to listen closely and follow my clear instructions. You've unintentionally caused a massive stir in that town. We've got to halt the mess and get out. The end is near, but I need your cooperation," Marie said.

"I don't know if we should trust you," I found myself saying. In truth, I was still putting a lot of hope in Marie, but the only person I truly trusted was the blonde next to me.

"I'm amazed you have so far too," Marie said. "I certainly wouldn't have with what little you know of everything. I can't make you trust me, but I can promise you this; if you do put your trust in me, there is an end in sight."

"Soon?" Naomi's small voice called out.

"Soon," she said with a nod. She looked around her, as if she was afraid someone would notice her. "We've got only a few hours to make this happen."

A few hours. Just a few hours?

I looked over at my anchor. My Naomi. She closed her eyes, then opened them again and looked at me. She nodded curtly and then looked over at Marie.

"Alright, give it to us," Naomi said.

I stiffened my body, awaiting the next phase of this psychotic cycle to be thrown at us.


	20. Chapter 20

**Little to no time to even post this! Spent far too much of my scarce free time writing it. I know you understand. The end is coming, folks. I hope the next few end chapters carry through the buzz of this story you all seem to enjoy! (much to my surprise. I have been told I have a bit of a twisted imagination, so I'm glad to be able to share it and have it appreciated. : ) ) Thanks again for all your encouragement. Words aren't enough. **

**I don't own skins. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 20**

"What do you know?" Marie asked us.

I noticed her appearance was about a thousand times better from the last night I saw her. She had obviously taken a shower and was wearing a large coat and slacks. She was actually rather pretty all cleaned up.

"That's a loaded question," Naomi said. She had relaxed considerably. It struck me odd that Naomi seemed to trust Marie so entirely. She may have fought it at first, but as the minutes passed, I could tell Naomi expected something out of her.

Don't get me wrong, Marie had only proven us right in trusting her so far, but I really only trusted her as far as I could throw her, which wasn't far. And I'm not the one with trust issues here.

Marie looked around her nervously, and rubbed her hands on her thighs.

"You have 60 seconds, tell me all you know," she said again.

"We ran into a woman named Erin on our way out here. She told us about the town Donald created. We know they all believe a particular story, but were a little fuzzy on those details. These two people right here just killed themselves because they think we're the demons sent to destroy their town," Naomi blurted out.

Marie nodded slowly at the information.

"That barely touches the tip of the iceberg," she said.

"Doesn't surprise me," I muttered, earning a sharp gaze from Marie.

"I've got us help," Marie said, staring straight at me. I could tell she was speaking only to me. She could sense my distrust. I felt my demeanor waver at her gaze. I realized she was rattling with nerves herself. Anyone with two eyes could see how distressed she was.

It helped marginally for me. Everyone we had encountered had always been ridiculously calm. They felt safe in their thoughts and actions. Marie obviously wasn't.

I felt a new rush of fear shake off the shock in my body when a thought occurred to me. If Marie was legit, she obviously knew more than we did, had lived among this more than we had. She knew of the real danger. The fire in her eyes gave away the extent of it. That scared me more than I could admit to myself at the minute.

"We need to go into the town," Marie said.

"You've got to be fucking kidding," Naomi said.

"I thought you said you got help?" I challenged at the same time.

Marie looked around herself again, taking in a deep breath.

"I can explain, but you NEED to walk with me. You can even grab those guns, hold me at gun point, what ever you need to do to feel comfortable, but I need you to walk with me," she said, sounding strained.

I felt my own hesitation, and was a little relieved to almost feel Naomi's hesitation as well. Marie let out a sigh.

"You've obviously been approached by the townspeople, what have you got to lose? Only staying in here promises you'll be found again," Marie said.

She had an extremely depressing point. In a matter of less than several hours, we had been confronted by three brainwashed townies. Sure, there were three guns at our discretion, but that wouldn't work if we were some how dragged into town against our will. If anything, we could get some answers from Marie if we walked with her. Buy ourselves some time.

I heard some leaves rustling and my head snapped over to Naomi. She clearly had already made the decision for the two of us, as she hastily grabbed all three guns. She secured one in her baggy waist line, handed me one and kept one for herself. She let out a shaky breath, not meeting my eyes.

She didn't really trust Marie. I could tell. I could tell because she wasn't meeting my eyes. She wasn't verbally convincing me of her apparent thoughts, which spoke more to me than any of her words possibly could.

If Marie noticed the same thing, she hadn't let on. She nodded her head in approval and let out a sigh of relief. She began walking toward the beginning entrance of the wooded area. The two of us followed hesitantly.

"I'm a part of a non-profit group. I can't reveal the name right now, for simple protection. Yours as well as mine. What I can tell you is that our group deals with human rights. This town is in the middle of the country and has miraculously remained off the major radar for three years. They're registered and as far as the country is concerned, is an actual town. The problem is, they've driven out anyone they haven't trusted. My team got involved, I got involved, because we had heard about animal suffering going on here. When this town first started, they got their food by purchasing or adopting different farm animals and brutally slaughtering them."

I felt myself frown. I could see the clearing about 50 feet in front of us.

"I got involved to stop the abuse, but what I didn't expect to find was a town like this. The danger is here, it's real. The town rallies against any unwanted visitor. I worked for their approval, hoping to get photographed proof of the animal abuse for the police force. For some reason, Donald liked me and the town accepted me. This is why you NEED to listen to me. I've been working under cover here for 10 months now. Once I realized what the hell was going on, and told my group, the government as well as the counties major police forces have gotten involved. It wasn't until your kidnaps, ironically, that I even learned how this town was getting it's funding. Donald trusted me to be involved in the process."

"Is that why it took so long?" Naomi asked, sounding awed.

"For something to happen?" Marie asked, looking over her shoulder at us as we walked behind her.

"Yes."

"That's a large part of it. Donald wanted you two killed straight away once he realized the mistakes of his people couldn't be undone. The only reason why you two made it was because of me, and ironically George, one of the guards at the place you two were previously being held."

"Who was George?" I found myself asking, curiosity getting the better of me.

"I couldn't tell you since they were always masked, but he was one of the people who fed you. He was a powerful voice in the community, he tried to reason with Donald. I was fighting for you two, to keep you both alive long enough until I could get outside help. At that point, it was getting harder and harder for me to get information to the outside. The government still doesn't really know what is going on here. Never-the-less, George was the first one to suggest bringing you two into the town."

"Those three people had mentioned that," I said sourly. Even the thought of being incorporated into this town made me nauseous.

"It's what's kept you alive," Marie said. "The town held a large meeting, to vote whether to let you even come inside the boundaries, and then what to do with you."

I swallowed hard. An entire town had gathered to decide our fate. They hadn't even met us.

"But before a decision could be reached, something happened where you two were being held," Marie said.

"The construction guys," I said, knowing what she meant.

"Yes. It was decided we had to move you two and burn all evidence in the building. Leo and Perry were put in charge of you, and I'll admit, I'm not even sure what happened while they were transferring you. No one wanted you in the town until a decision was reached. It was a lot of scrambling, but then it was decided to bring you to an old motel building Donald owned and ran."

We broke through the clearing and onto the road leading back to the town. My finger hovered over the trigger of the gun cautiously, not trusting the openness.

"That's when I decided to intervene, bring you into the town myself. I was positive if I got you inside the walls, let the towns people see you, they would decide to let you live. What I hadn't expected was for Donald to make the decision himself."

"That's why you panicked inside the house," Naomi said, realization hitting her voice. I watched Marie's head nod.

"Exactly. Donald had built this town, and it ran on his trust. I honestly didn't expect him to defy the carefully build brainwashed story he had created by making a decision on his own. This town trusts him to their death, as you've gathered."

I shuddered, imagining loads of people killing themselves over the thoughts and words of the tiny man with the plastic smile.

"I had to kill them, I had to," Marie said, as if trying to convince us of her innocence. As if we minded. "I ran out and told the first person I saw, a woman named Bethany, that everyone in that house had killed themselves."

"You started the panic?" I asked, shocked.

"It bought you several hours of time, you realize that," Marie insisted. I didn't know what I believed. She was making everything link together, I'll admit that, but there were still so many unanswered questions. Her true loyalty still unknown.

I glanced over at Naomi, whose lip was once again under her teeth. Her brain soaking in every word. Digesting every fact.

"This town has been told that a powerful force would come to destroy everything. Once I got you two into the house, I realized Donald had told them you two might be it. One of the biggest running mechanisms of this town is the belief that each person must offer themselves to earn salvation. To protect their town. Don't doubt that every person firmly believes in it too."

"We don't," I said before I could stop myself. I believed at least that. Kathy and Rogers quick deaths had proved that. Holy shit, this town was off their rockers, and completely unoriginal at that. Killing themselves for salvation? Jesus.

"Where does the help come in all of this?" Naomi suddenly asked. Marie stopped walking and turned around to us.

"The town has been in a fit over Donald's death and your disappearance. I had enough time to run back to the motel, where I had a cellphone hidden in one of the rooms. I contacted my group, who has contacted everyone working on this case. It's happening. The demise of this shit hole is coming."

"What's the catch?" I asked, detecting something in her voice. Something telling me this wasn't going to be as easy as waiting for good guys to show up.

"They have to infiltrate. I have to ensure the entire town is around," Marie said.

"And we're the bait," I breathed out, putting the puzzle pieces into place.

"Yes," Marie said, looking nervous and regretful.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"That's asking a lot," I said. "You're bringing us straight into the danger."

"You girls are our top priority, but this town is full of innocent people who have been wronged. We're trying to protect everyone."

"BY USING US!" I yelled, my chest aching from the shout.

"You don't understand..."

"What's there not to understand? Donald is dead! Dead. He was the instigator. He's dead. There is no danger. Bringing us into the town is unnecessary," I continued yelling. Panic was taking over. The panic I had been avoiding for a while.

"Emily listen to me," Naomi said this time, catching my attention. My head whipped around to her. "We have no idea what these towns people are capable of. If they're willing to kill themselves to protect themselves, they probably still have people looking for us to make sure it doesn't come to that."

I looked at her incredulously. Naomi had taken Marie's side. For the first time in this entire ordeal, I could see the utter disagreement on Naomi's face. I could tell, by her face and her stature, that she wasn't seeing things like I was. The first real betrayal in our friendship.

"No Naomi. We can stay here. We have guns. We can shoot anyone who comes close. Marie can go into town and then when the help comes they can get us," I said, my voice edging closer to total abandon. I was arguing for my life here. For our lives.

"Emily..." Marie started.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" I yelled, bringing my hands to my face. I felt the cold gun against my skin. I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. The panic had consumed me.

I looked over at Naomi, half-expecting her to continue her rant. Come over and try to convince me to go into town with Marie. But she just stood there. Shock riddled her face. I think she knew I had been pushed over the edge.

"Maybe Naomi can just come with me," Marie finally said, after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm not leaving her," Naomi said, quietly. Her face fell into a look of despair. She was struggling, that much was sure. Struggling between her honest opinion and her care for me.

I felt my anger at her deplete a little bit. The dissipating anger and relief at Naomi not completely betraying me cleared some of the panic fog hovering in my brain.

"How long?" I asked.

"A few hours at best," Marie said, understanding what I meant. "I need to make sure the bomb sequence is off."

"WHAT?" Naomi and I shouted at the same time.

"It's a part of the suicide attempt. If something goes wrong, they are instructed to set off a set of bombs throughout the town. I know where the switch is."

"So you're not only using us as bait, you're bringing us straight into a pint-sized Hiroshima?" I asked, my jaw agape.

"The hotel is back over a hill behind these woods," Marie said, quietly. The image of Erin on her motorcycle came flooding back to me. She had come from that hill. "The woods wouldn't be safe if it goes off. Dry hills and fire don't bode well together."

"Jesus christ," Naomi said, and began pacing on the road.

"Trust me when I tell you, your best shot is to come with me," Marie said, her voice adapting a harsher tone. She peered at the watch on her hand. Our wasting time was obviously cutting into her plan.

I looked at Naomi who looked back at me helplessly. Her blue eyes, those hauntingly beautiful eyes, were digging into me. I knew at that moment I had to concede. I had to go into the town. Not because I agreed with it, but because being separated from Naomi, risking anything further, made my stomach hurt.

We dropped our guns, realizing they would be pointless, and wordlessly continued walking toward the town. After over a half an hour of walking, the sun began beating down on us. It wasn't warm, but it was welcome. My hands began to get the feeling back in them, and my back relaxed from the constant shivering.

The town slowly came into view, and to my horror there was a corral of people standing at the edge of it. They were standing in a bunch, staring down the edge of the road.

Marie turned her head back slightly.

"This is it. Use my lead, and play along. You two are both incredibly smart, and your instincts are good. Use them," she said, and slowed her step a little bit putting herself in between Naomi and I. She grabbed our arms on either side of her.

This is it. This is it. This is it. This was the end. The grand finale. The end was near, what ever that was.

We continued walking and passed a sign that read: "Welcome Visitors! Enjoy your stay. Population: 55."

The 55 was written in beside the original 53, which was crossed out and had been painted on next to another 62. As I looked closer, the number had been crossed out several times. Bouncing from 15 to 30 to 45 to 70, and down to 62.

"How much money do you bet that we're number 54 and 55?" Naomi whispered under her breath.

Marie let out a disapproving sound, shutting Naomi up.

The crowd was now about 20 feet away from us. If this was the town, there were only adults in it, and upon a closer look, there were probably around 50 of them.

"Marie! You have returned," A man said stepping forward. He was very tall and large. He was wearing a large red jacket and had a jolly expression on his face.

"I have. I'm sorry I disappeared," Marie said, her voice dropping a few notches. Her grip on our arms increased.

"I see you've brought back a surprise," he said, looking pleased.

"Donald's death proved unto me the truth of his words," Marie smoothed out. "I have found the girls he believed to be our traitors. I brought them so we can decided their fate, and then ours."

Fuck me, she sounded convincing. I momentarily wondered if she was fucking with them, or fucking with us. Her thumb rubbed on the inside of my arm. I hoped that meant she was on our side.

"Splendid," the large man said. "We have been waiting for Kathy and Roger to return. Where are they?"

"I'm afraid I didn't find them. I didn't realize they were searching around. Who else is missing?"

"Only Erin, Kathy and Roger. We were about to send out Christopher and Nicholas," he said, in an orderly manner.

"You might want to send them out in a little bit to search for the others in the daylight," Marie said.

"We'll sort that out. In the mean time, why don't you bring these two girls into the clubhouse. We can have our meeting," The large man said, smiling at the two of us. He possessed the same eery calm everyone so far had. For a town that was supposed to be "in a tizzy," they were all remarkably clam.

"Of course," Marie said, then turned to look at both of us. "Come on girls, be good girls and come with us."

We were ushered down the road through the crowd. Every eye peered upon us. I felt goose bumps raise up on my arms. The gazes weren't welcome. We were considered an enemy, until proven otherwise.

My eyes scanned the area as we walked further in. There were ten houses, five on either side, lined up on the street. All of them were large, perfect houses. Painted soft colors with white trim, green lawns and white picket fences, they resembled something out of a movie.

After the houses were six other buildings, three on each side. They were labeled neatly with large red signs and white paint. The Market, The Church, The Club House, The Convenience Store, The School and The Police Station were neatly written on each sign. The town ended after that. 16 buildings in total. 16 buildings represented the life all 53 of these people who were willing to protect.

We walked into The Club House. It was a brick building with a pristine white porch that wrapped around it's exterior. The double doors were open, revealing an open room with hardwood floors. I briefly wondered why Donald's house was such a shit hole, when this town appeared to strive for perfection.

Inside The Club House was a stage surrounded by loads of chairs. Marie led us inside the building and onto the stage, where two chairs awaited us.

"Take a seat, girls," Marie said calmly.

Both Naomi and I hesitated. Marie let go of out arms and wordlessly moved the chairs closer to one another. Only about a foot apart. She pointed to the seats and we finally moved to sit in them.

Shuffles and chair scoots filled the room as the town settled into the small auditorium. Numerous blanks stares filled my vision as I peered out into the room.

The large man from earlier walked up the stairs onto the stage, followed by a shorter man who was just as large. They walked over to Marie and patted her on the back.

She moved to the side of the stage and left through the back door and the men walked in front of us. I closed my eyes, hoping she hadn't just baited us. Hoping she was off to find the bomb trigger.

"Good Morning ladies and gentleman," the large man said. "Let the day bring upon us something a new."

"And also with you," the crowd chanted back.

My eyes opened and bugged out of my head. When I was younger, my mum had dragged my siblings and I to a few church services here and there. This was more then just a town, this way of life was obviously almost a religion to them. Being told that and witnessing it for yourself were two entirely different things.

He smiled and turned and gestured to us with exaggeration.

"We have a decision on our hands, my people. A decision we've been waiting a while for," he said and looked at us. "Would you like to introduce yourselves girls?"

"What?" Naomi asked, sounding shocked.

"Speak up, please," the man said.

"I'm Emily and this is Naomi," I said, loudly.

"Welcome Emily and Naomi," the man said boisterously.

He then proceeded to launch into a chant I was having a hard time following. It sounded like some sort of motivational speech. Everyone in the audience was getting roused into action, moving in their seats and shouted out praises.

"Fucks sake," I heard Naomi say under her breath.

Only then did I notice everyone had a small red notebook in their hands.

The man kept shouting different phrases at them, and the audience was furiously writing down things in their small, red notebooks.

This continued for what seemed like hours. My back began to throb, the pain of the last few days crashing back into me, full force. To distract myself, I had began to count upwards from one. I reached 2, 346 before the town began to settle down. I saw Marie slip back onto the stage and stand in a dark corner.

"Alright great townspeople, we have two great decisions to make today. Two life changing decisions for everyone in this room," the man said. He began pacing on the front of the stage, clasping his hands behind his back. "We must decide a new leader. In the wake of Donald's unfortunate death, we cannot lose our faith. We must strive forward. Make decisions as a whole. A unit. OUR unit. From now until our demise!"

The crowd erupted into cheers.

"Which brings us to our second decision. The fate of these young ladies sitting behind me. We've been warned of their presence. We've been warned of their danger. Donald had warned us of their impending doom. But, we are a kind town. A town of forgiveness. We must make a decision. We must decide whether to rid ourselves of these potential demons or invite them into our bliss!"

Another round of noise blew up from the audience, this time riddled with random cheers, hisses and snarls. I pressed my back in my chair, aghast at the response. There isn't much worse than a room of people, who might want you dead, hissing and snarling at you.

"We will hold two votes. Be diplomatic and honest. I would like everybody to pull out two pieces of paper from their Life Pads. On one sheet, please write the name of somebody you would like to lead our great town. The top three names will be voted on later this evening," the large man said, with a sly smile. "On the second sheet, please write down which fate you'd like to wish upon these girls."

My stomach clenched. This was it. This was it. The 50 or so odd people in this room were ripping out pieces of paper from their "Life Pads" and writing down our fate. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Come on, come on, please let the help arrive.

One by one the townspeople folded up their sheets of paper and delivered them to the shorter man on stage. He sorted the piles and began jotting down the information onto a sheet of paper.

I broke out in a sweat. My eyes wildly glanced around the room, trying to formulate a plan. This wasn't going to go our way, I could feel it. Time was growing increasingly short. This was it. This was it.

Naomi and I were too weak to bust out of this room cleanly. That much I knew. Our injuries had been less evasive hidden underneath the sharp cold of the night, but in this warm auditorium, my body ached and screamed at me. I was positive Naomi's was doing the same.

The din of the auditorium quieted down suddenly. My eyes immediately fell upon the shorter man, and the pieces of paper deciding our fate.

He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Let the day bring upon you something new," he said out to the crowd.

"And also with you," they chanted back.

I gulped and out of my peripheral, watched Naomi's body shake forward.

"The fate of our leader rests in the fate of these girls, so I'll take it upon myself to announce..."

Something slammed on the ceiling. It startled me to sit up straight. Another thump came through the ceiling. I glanced over at Marie, and watched her face light up like a Christmas three.

Oh shit, this really was it. Habitually, I scooted my chair closer to Naomi's. I don't know if I could explain what I was feeling at the moment. It wasn't fear, it wasn't relief and it certainly wasn't shock. It just was. I wasn't going to honestly believe this was the end until we were in a car heading far, far away from this place.

The crowd fell completely silent and stared at the ceiling. There were foot steps on top of the ceiling, clear as day.

"Do you think that's Erin?" the large man asked the smaller man on stage. He shook his head.

"She was over by the hotel last I heard," he said.

The large man puffed out his chest as the footsteps continued and looked out upon the crowd.

"I'm afraid we might have been wrong," he bellowed out. Shock rippled through the auditorium.

All three doors surrounding the auditorium burst open and floods of black and dark blue flew in. Scads and scads of uniformed men entered the room. Each one wearing a helmet and a very long gun.

I stood up and stumbled over my chair in surprise, falling straight on my butt. Naomi snapped out of her own shock and basically lifted me to my feet, not letting go of my arm.

Noise erupted among the crowd. None of them moved from their chairs, but they were letting out their own gasps of shock and surprise.

There were at least as many men as there were people in this town now in the auditorium. They lined up on either side of the rows of seats, silent, guns pointed.

I felt an arm gruffly grab at me, pulling me away from Naomi.

"Who did you tell?" He asked, his voice bellowing over the din in the room.

"I didn't tell anyone!" I insisted, the fire in his eyes scared me. It was worse than Leo's back in the hotel room. It nearly made my knees buckle.

"Yes you did, you little shit, who did you tell?" He asked, shaking me. He was so much larger than me, my body shook like a rag doll.

"Let her go you fucker!" Naomi screamed. Out of my peripheral I watched her launch toward us only to be sucker punched in the stomach by the shorter man. She fell to her knees in agony.

"PUT THE GIRL DOWN," a voice yelled near the front of the stage. It was one of the men in uniform.

A creepy smile hit the large man's face, and he chuckled silently.

"I have no intentions of hurting her. I'm just trying to figure out who is responsible for our end," he said, calm once again. I didn't believe him for a second. The grip he had on my arm was blood-stopping.

I heard Naomi trying to suck in gasps of air. I heard the complete silence that had once again fallen over the crowd. I heard the heavy boot-ridden footsteps as the men around the auditorium paced around the crowd. I heard everything other than what I wanted to hear. Action. Action that would lead to our safety.

I reckoned I had just about another inch of energy left in me. Energy that could withstand another bought of unexpected action, but then that would be it. I would be done.

"I'll repeat myself, let the girls go," the same man in uniform yelled. I noticed he had some gold stripes on his uniform that separated him from the others. He must be the head honcho or something.

"Donald was right after all. These girls are our demise. They are the reason we are going to have to follow through with our destiny. I had hoped it would be our children's children's children who would have to deal with such reality, to let our town grow prosperously. But alas, it is our time."

The large man was speaking to the chairs of townspeople. He seemed to ignore the presence of over 50 mens with guns surrounding the auditorium.

"You know what you must do my brothers and sisters," he bellowed out, and to my horror, a succession of nods ran through the room.

Why weren't the uniformed men doing anything? What was going on?

Clicks rippled through the room. More rustling. And an eery dead silence.

"Fuck me," Naomi breathed out in a struggle. I glanced at her quickly, out of habit, and then back out onto the audience.

The uniformed men were now in action, on their knees or crouching down. Their guns sitting on their shoulders, bodies ready to pounce.

Then I noticed the worst part. Every person in the audience had pulled out a hand gun and held it to their heads.

Flashes of Roger and Kathy swept through my vision and I felt myself get nauseous. The memory of sliding in the warm blood nearly made me gag. I couldn't watch that again with one more person, let alone 50.

"NO!" I yelled, to my surprise and to the surprise of every single person in the room. My mind was acting fast. It was self protection. Self protection for me and self protection for my other half: Naomi. I didn't even have to look at her face to know she probably looked as green as I felt.

"What child?" the large man asked, his grip loosening slightly on my arm.

"You can't kill yourselves over what some psycho told you!" I insisted, looking him square in the eyes for the first time. He wavered, if only marginally.

My words seemed to spur some action among the uniformed men. I heard a few of them whisper actions into their headsets. I briefly wondered if they had any real clue what was going on. What this auditorium of townspeople were willing to do to protect their secret. A secret that, ironically, wasn't so much a secret anymore thanks to Marie.

"Then why did you divulge our secret, child?" He asked me calmly. A strip of sick terror ran through my system at the look in his eyes. Pure trust. He was so brainwashed, any one who seemed to possess power in the room could persuade him. Or so I hoped.

"I didn't. Donald did," I said, taking a risk.

Marie and Naomi's eyes burned into my sides. I couldn't even look them in the eyes. I was too tired to hold a facade up for people who could read through the lie. The look of betrayal that flashed through the large mans eyes told me my instincts were at least partially right. He would at least listen to me.

The large man pulled me off to the side and close to his body. I could smell his sweat.

"Donald did all of this?" he asked, his voice hushed. "How do you know this?"

"He told me," I said.

"Did he leave you with instructions? Donald would never leave us without instructions," he said.

I racked my brain, knowing this was a true life or death moment.

"Sir, can I ask you to step away from the girl," the uniformed man in command said to the large man.

He flew away from me and spun around to face him.

"Let the child speak for fucks sake!" he bellowed out.

I felt myself freeze in shock. My god, he did trust me. And I was going to fuck this up. I looked over and met Naomi's glance, begging her to help me.

The large man then pulled out his own hand gun and placed it to his temple. He looked at me, eyes pleading.

"Now what did Donald say, child, what did he say?" he asked me.

I wavered. My words were going to decide the fate of this entire room. Which is ironic because only moments before their decisions were going to affect mine and Naomi's fate.

I must have paused too long because the large man's voice broke through my shock again.

"Emily Fitch," he said, using my full name. "Please tell me."

"I...I..." I stuttered, forcing my brain to work. Every explanation that was flying through my brain didn't seem good enough. Seemed likely to get us hurt.

"Please," he said. His eyes were blue, icier than Naomi's, but they looked honest. This man had been betrayed by his own will to follow. Been betrayed by Donald and his psychotic nature. It made me cave.

"He didn't tell me anything," I admitted, quietly.

"You mean he just...left us?" The large man said.

I opened my mouth to admit that he hadn't, in fact, killed himself. But I realized how stupid that would be, even surrounded by loads of men with guns. I could only bring myself to nod.

He turned his enormous body to face the audience and nodded at them.

"I'm not sure what motivated Donald to leave us all to this fate, but those were his actions. I'm sure there was some meaning behind them. When we pass on through this life, we can ask him."

I sucked in a deep breath, realizing I had let an important chance slip through my hands.

"I trust, I believe, I hope," Donald said quietly.

"We trust, we believe, we hope," the audience said in calm voices.

I watched Naomi spring to her feet.

"They're going to kill themselves!" she shrieked in horror. I watched the stances of the uniformed men waver in confusion. "Do something!"

I watched the head person in command whisper something into his head set and the men moved forward.

"My brothers and sisters, this is it. We may rest in peace in the love of each other," he said, over the bustling in the room.

Before I could react I felt my body hit the wooden floor of the stage and loads of gun shots rang out.

I recognized the body on top of mine. I knew it was Naomi. I felt her bury her face in the back of my neck, her hands sliding around to cover my ears from the loud noise.

There were dull screams and shouts. Commands being ordered, more gun shots. Chairs were being moved rapidly. Dull thuds were hitting the floor.

Then sudden silence. It lasted for what seemed like minutes, even though it was probably only a few seconds.

"Get the girls," I heard someone order.

I felt a soft hand on my arm.

"Emily, Naomi, are you alright?" I heard Marie's voice say.

I lifted my head, and felt Naomi's lift hers from my neck, her hands released my ears. I looked into the eyes of Marie.

"I'm okay," I said. I heard Naomi confirm the same thing.

Naomi rolled off of my back and we both sat upright and stared out into the auditorium.

I felt that familiar nausea creep up. The smoke from the guns was lifting and revealing something fit for a horror movie. There was not one towns person still sitting. Bodies covered the floor. The uniformed men were bending down, attempting to attend to the bodies.

I gagged, my stomach lurched. Nothing came up, and I sputtered into a cough, gagging again. Blood and gun smoke infiltrated my senses. Blocking everything else out and bringing back memories from only hours earlier.

I watched my gagging set Naomi off, and she lurched herself. She recovered faster than I could, spit something out on the stage and looked at Marie.

"Is it over?" she asked.

Marie nodded.

"It didn't end like we'd hoped, but for you two, it's over," she said calmly.

Both Naomi and I nodded dumbly. I couldn't process it just yet. I couldn't process that an entire room of people had killed themselves over something the man who kidnapped us had brainwashed them into thinking. It was all too much to process. I didn't know if I'd ever truly get over it.

"What..." I started and realed I had no idea what I wanted to ask.

"Questions later, you two need to get out of here," she said.

She held out her hands and helped us both to our feet. We stepped down the steps toward a side door and I noticed the numerous pieces of paper strewn around the stage. I saw a few of them, and all had said "Kill the demons."

I tried swallowing, but couldn't do it. If Marie's team had been only minutes later, Naomi and I might have been dead. Our bodies might have been covering the floor instead of the townspeople. I hated, hated, hated the fact that seemingly innocent people had just died, but I selfishly was happy it wasn't Naomi or I.

We broke through the back of the auditorium, and the empty road of the town was flooded with cars and vans. All marked. All official.

Marie led us to the backseat of an unmarked car and opened the back door.

"This is my car. I'm going to drive you to the next town in a few minutes. Outside police enforcement are involved with this town, just give me a bit to speak with my team to figure out a plan for that," she instructed.

Naomi crawled into the back seat and I quickly followed.

"Just a minute," Marie said softly again.

It struck me how much her demeanor had changed. She no longer seemed like the action-hungry person who had been helping us this whole time. She actually seemed like a human being who completely understood the horror Naomi and I had been through. Sympathy was pouring off of her.

She shut the door and I watched her walk back into the building.

"She actually helped us," Naomi breathed out. I slowly brought my attention to her. She looked completely blasted. She was pale, huge circles were under her eyes, and her whole body was shaking. I realized I probably looked the exact same. She still looked beautiful though, hauntingly beautiful, just like her eyes.

"Yeah," I said, unable to word myself.

"What now?" she asked.

I felt my stomach lurch again. This was almost over. We were only steps away from getting home. A home where my family assumed I was dead. What the fuck WOULD happen?

"Beats me," I offered with a shrug.

"Are we really safe?" she asked.

"I won't believe it until I watch us drive far away from here."

"I won't believe it until I see my mum," she said.

I nodded.

"No more rooms, no more holes, no more guns and no more death," she said.

"It doesn't seem real," I said.

We were both speaking so robotic-ally, I wondered if we'd ever snap out of it. Ever recover.

I saw two tears run down Naomi's face. Only two. She sniffled quickly and no more leaked out of her eyes. She was staring at the front seat so hard, I thought she might burn a hole into it.

I leaned over and gripped her face with my hand, pressing a long kiss into her cheek. I wordlessly sat back in the seat, trying to force my body to relax.

Naomi's hand slid into mine, but she continued to stare at the front seat. Continued to shake.

"It's still just you and me, kid," she finally said after a minute.

The corners of my mouth tugged, and I saw Marie leave the building. The first step to our freedom.


	21. Chapter 21

**Alright folks, changing pace here a little bit, little nervous. A wicked fast update and a long one at that. Sheesh, it's what such amazing encouragement from you lot does. I took much of your thoughts into consideration, and this chapter is the result. Granted...it's much longer, because I have the habit of talking too much in real life. This ALSO results in me typing too much. So this chapter ended up much longer than what happened in my head. Hope it's not a problem. And hope you enjoy the chapter, despite the lack-of-action (comparatively speaking). Here's to more Naomily development? And to those of you wondering along those lines, your patience will be rewarded. I promise. Hang in there and stay with me? : )**

**Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 21**

Ten minutes later Marie stepped out of the auditorium and walked toward the car. She got in, started the engine and pulled out onto the long road. The long road that had depicted much of mine and Naomi's pain and suffering.

The car ride was silent, each of us lost in our own train of thoughts. I had my forehead pressed against the window. Fog appeared on the window where I breathed out. After about ten minutes a building caught my eye. A blackened, hole where a building used to reside. Only two main supporting walls stood, and even those were damaged. On the other side of the road was a pristine looking building. Tall and proud.

"That's where you were kept," Marie said, her voice low.

Of course. I sat up in my seat and stared intently, but to no avail. There was no resemblance to the building I lived in for three months. Why would there be? I only saw my own tiny, white room.

"Everything was on this road?" Naomi asked suddenly. She had unbuckled her seat belt and scooted over to the middle seat to peer out over my shoulder.

"Yes. This road will eventually pass through other towns and lead into Birmingham. We are near the middle top of the country," Marie explained.

I had to resist the urge to close my eyes. I didn't really want to know where we were, because I didn't want to spend my life afraid of it.

"We were so close to home," Naomi breathed out. That caught my attention. My still shock-riddled brain hadn't put that together. Why the fuck had we been driving so long all the time?

Marie glanced back through the rear-view mirror.

"Naomi, your mum got irrevocably close to finding you. Because of this, just in case she intervened, they were trying to throw you off. Driving for hours and hours," Marie said.

I merely shook my head. There was never any truth to any of this.

"I'm bringing you to the police station where my group is centralized in Birmingham. You can call your parents from there, and then you'll need to give statements," Marie said.

"Statements?" I asked, not having considered that. I didn't want to have to talk about what just happened.

Oh jesus, we were going to have to talk about it; to our parents, to our friends and other family, to the press, to the police. Everyone would be curious. Everyone. And even further more, all the kidnappings of other children would come out of the woodwork. The three of us in this car are the only three alive who knew was what truly went on.

I felt my throat close up and my blood race. I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to talk about anything. I wanted a warm shower, a warm meal and a warm bed, one with a door that locked and would allow me to sleep away every ounce of danger for three days.

Naomi must have sensed my clam up because she nudged me to her attention.

"Alright?" she asked. I shook my head. No sense in lying. She'd read right through me.

"What sort of statements are they looking for?" Naomi asked Marie, proving me right.

"You can just give general ones now if you'd prefer. Or better yet, I can hold them off until you two get a proper meal inside of you. Plus you'll need to be check out by medical professionals," she said.

I let out a sigh of relief. Marie chuckled slightly.

"Subtle Emily," she said, winking at me through the rear-view mirror. "I get it. I'll hold them off for a bit."

We sat silent for another little while. At the mention of medical attention, my body was really starting to ache. I knew neither of us had anything broken, but I didn't doubt our bodies were riddled with bruises and sprains. I was worried about the cuts on Naomi's stomach, her arm and about her ribs. I was worried about my lower back.

"Close your eyes you two, you look like death," Marie said, with a twinge of amusement to her voice. I understood what she was doing. We had all just seen vast amounts of death, and she was trying to momentarily make us forget. Ease our restless hearts. I would appreciate it now, but at the moment it wasn't sinking in.

Another nudge from Naomi caught my attention. I met her gaze and she looked worried.

"You're starting to worry me," she whispered, even though Marie could most likely hear us.

"I don't know, I think I need some time," I said. A look I didn't recognize flashed through Naomi's eyes and she nodded. Then she began scooting away from me. My arm jetted out to stop her.

"Not by myself," I clarified. A small, closed-mouth smile appeared on Naomi's face and she settled herself into the middle seat, buckling her seat belt there.

Naomi rested her head on top of mine, forcing my head into the crook of her shoulder. I laughed at her obviousness, but it felt nice just to rest my pounding head. I shut my eyes and let the hum of the car begin to work away some of the tension in my body.

"Girls, girls," I heard a voice say through the fog in my brain. I opened my eyes quickly, my body tensing out of instinct. I felt Naomi's body do the same.

"Girls, you're safe," the voice said again, and I realized it was Marie's voice. I shook my head and let my body relax again. "We're at the station. Don't be alarmed, but there are a lot of people."

I glanced over her shoulder and sure enough there were eight or ten men standing outside the car, their faces anxious. I froze.

"These are all professional men, Emily," Marie said, her voice soft. She was trying to calm me down.

"I know, but..."

"But they're actually here to keep any nonsense away. They're the only ones you'll be around for the next little bit," she said.

I felt a hand push into the middle of my back, and realized Naomi was pushing me out of the car. Forcing my brain to wrap itself around the fact that we were safe was getting harder and harder to do. I stepped out of the car and was immediately ushered inside the police building.

Once inside, we were escorted down the stairs into a basement like area. I heard Naomi struggle a little behind me.

"Let go of me, please," she said, her voice calm, but pleading. I looked over my shoulder and saw her eyes wide. The man who was leading her in immediately lifted his hand off of her shoulders and muttered an apology.

Once downstairs I saw a restroom to our right and desks scad around the room. It was completely empty aside from the group of people escorting us down.

"You'll get privacy here from the rest of the building," a man said from behind me.

I whipped around fast at his words, the man who's hands had been on my shoulders immediately removed them. Then something fell when another police officer ran into one of the desks by the staircase, startling Naomi and myself.

The group of officers and Marie stepped back from us, giving us a few more inches of space, which I greatly appreciated. Fuck me, we were jumpy. It was hard not to be. Naomi and I had been "on" for so long now it was hard to turn "off."

I looked over at Naomi, and she was trying to catch her breath. I felt like less of a tart seeing that the noise has scared her as well. Felt justified in being such a chicken shit. Reminding myself I wasn't alone, which ironically, now that we were out of danger, was getting hard.

"Sorry about that girls," one of the uniformed men started.

"Naomi and Emily," Naomi said crisply. I was very glad she said that because I had opened my mouth to say the same thing. The term "girls" would never be the same for us again.

"Naomi and Emily," the officer clarified. "You can call me by my first name. I'm Bradley, I am the residing officer on this case."

"Hello," we both said in unison. Seeing eight pairs of eyes staring at us, I immediately became self conscious. We hadn't showered in a while, our gym clothes were covered in dirt, grim and a little bit of blood. My hair was caked. My body was cold from dried sweat. I felt disgusting. I crossed my arms in front of me and brought my eyes to the floor.

"How about we get these young ladies, I'm sorry, Naomi and Emily some phone lines so they can call their folks. Marty, call the medical team over, they're waiting for out call. Then we'll figure out what to do next," he said.

We sat down at a large desk, sharing an equally large, swirly office chair. A phone was placed in front of us. I watched as the seven officers attempted to make themselves appear busy, when in reality they were listening to every word we were saying. I felt immediately cautious.

Naomi reached up and grabbed the phone off the receiver.

"Gina will be thrilled," Bradley said, sounding proud. "You have one hell of a mother Naomi. She has fought and fought, with and with out our help. In fact just yesterday she was traveling on her own dime to follow a lead she had."

My eyebrows shot up, and I watched as a matching look of proudness washed over Naomi's face. Her hand was shaking, but she brought the receiver up to her ear and dialed the numbers. Her eyes met mine, and she smiled, putting down the receiver and pushing the speakerphone button.

"Hello?"

"Mum?" Naomi said, louder than she expected, I think, because she quickly cleared her throat.

There was a beat of dead silence on the line.

"Naomi?" her mum said, her voice much smaller. It was stark ravingly similar to how Naomi sounded when she was in disbelief.

"It's me, mum," Naomi said, tears welling up in her eyes. I watched her swallow hard and hide her eyes with her hand.

"Oh my god," her mum whisked out quickly. "That's really you isn't it? Are you safe, love?"

"I'm safe. I'm at a station in Birmingham," Naomi said, choking back another sob.

"Where in Birmingham, are you with Officer Bradley Miller?" her mum asked.

"I'm not sure," Naomi said, lifting her head up, revealing blood-shot eyes. She peered over at the officer. Before he could respond, Gina interrupted her.

"For the love of god, Naomi, get me on the phone with an officer. With Bradley. I'm on my way. I'm coming love, just sit tight," her mum said.

I watched as Bradley started speaking into the phone and I suddenly felt an enormous weight lift off my shoulders.

We were safe. We were actually truly safe. Gina knew who Bradley was, and trusted him. Marie had well and truly saved us. We were going home.

The reality of it hit me full-force. I sat there stunned, and felt my own tears well up in my eyes. Tears of complete relief. I felt like I needed a hug, a stiff drink, and a cigarette all at once.

Naomi turned to look at me, with pure happiness in her eyes. The first time I had ever seen that present. It overwhelmed me, how utterly beautiful she looked so happy.

I felt two hot tears stream down my face, and I had to swallow back a lump in my throat. Naomi reached forward and brushed them away from my face. I couldn't help it, I launched myself into her arms.

We nearly fell off the chair we were sharing from the impact. Naomi laughed a little bit and managed to steady ourselves with the desk. I pulled back sheepishly and wiped my eyes again, letting out a shaky breath.

"You didn't believe it did you?" Naomi asked.

"Not until I heard your mum's voice," I admitted.

"Me either," she said, letting out her own shaky breath. Still on the same page. It was a massive relief. A massive relief knowing I wasn't the only completely paranoid person in this room. That was going to be a really, really tough feeling to overcome. We've been "safe" for not even two hours, and I've already almost had another heart attack from my nerves.

A cough from in front of us caught our attention. Bradley was holding out the phone to me.

"Emily, would you like to phone your parents?" he asked.

I nodded, and then felt a slight pinch of panic. My parents thought I was dead. It wasn't like Naomi. I wasn't going to ring my parents and be able to share the joy of my safety with them. I was going to have to deliver the news that I wasn't in fact dead, and that not only was I still alive, I was safe after three months of hell.

"Do you want me to do it?" Naomi asked. Marie looked at me curiously. I realized no one in this room knew we new of our parents press interviews.

"My parents," I said, my voice catching in my throat. "I think they think I'm dead."

"What?" Bradley asked.

"Two of those guys showed us recordings of their press interviews. Surely you heard," I said.

"I've seen them, yes. Your parents have asked for privacy in the matter. We had reason to believe you two were together though, so we kept looking for you," Bradley said.

"But my parents didn't," I said, forlornly. I hadn't properly thought about how betrayed I felt by my own family. Gina was even in cahoots with the police staff for sobbing out loud, and my family was asking for privacy?

"Emily," Naomi said, but I shook my head to cut her off. I wanted to be happy about my safety. I didn't want sympathy.

"I'll call them," I said, and dialed the number on the pad quickly.

It rang once. I imagined my dad's voice answering the phone. His shock at my survival.

It rang twice. I pictured my sisters face when she realized she hadn't lost her twin.

It rang three times. I picture James mischievous smile and almost grinned myself.

It rang four times, and I imagined my mother.

The answering machine picked up.

"Hello, you've reached the Fitch residence if you would like to leave a message..."

I hung up the line, quickly picking it back up and punching in another number. My dad's personal mobile line. Naomi shot me a confused look.

It went straight to voicemail. I dialed my mum's personal mobile. Straight to voicemail, then Katie's. Straight to voicemail.

I looked at Naomi, feeling the weight fall back onto my shoulders, the tension returning. A split second decision made me call my dad's mobile again, figuring he would be the best person to leave a message for.

"Hi, you've reached Rob Fitch. I am currently out of the country taking personal time, so if your message is urgent you can call my office at..."

I hung up the phone, feeling tears spring to my eyes. My family was out of the country. I had just returned from my own personal hell and my family was on fucking holiday.

"They're out of the country," I said after a minute.

"Then my mum will have to suffice for our love deprived souls, trust me, she's got enough in her," Naomi said, with out missing a heart swelled. Naomi had busied herself with picking the pine needles out of her hair, and had hardly noticed she had even said anything. But it meant the world to me. It covered up the growing hole in my body a little bit.

"Okay," I said, finally successfully swallowing the lump that was residing in my throat.

Naomi yanked out a bundle of needles out of her hair, and her face scrunched up. She shot me a wry smile and then looked over at Bradley.

"Any chance we could spot a shower?" she asked.

Bradley looked startled and then laughed to himself.

"Of course, let the medical team check you out, and then we've got you a few rooms at a nearby hotel. You'll be staying there tonight," he said.

"What about my..." Naomi said.

"Gina's about three hours away. She'll meet you there," Bradley said, then looked at me. "Your parents didn't answer, I'm gathering?"

I shook my head.

"Alright, well you two need to be checked out, so I'll get one of my guys to call them and leave a message," he said.

I nodded again and opened my mouth, but he beat me to it.

"We'll call you if they call back. Promise," he said, with a small smile. A smile I could barely offer back.

We were checked out by the medical team. As I had assumed, Naomi had been given medication for her bruised ribs and antibiotics for her cuts. She also needed a few stitches where the gun had pierced her skin. I needed some stitches on a cut I hadn't realized I had gotten on my back, as well as medication for the numerous bruises on my body.

With orders to eat and rest, we were led to the hotel by Marie, who would wait with us until Gina arrived. We walked into the hotel, checked in and took the elevator up. I noticed Marie had two keys.

"Alright guys," she said, handing us each our respective key. "Take your pick. Both rooms have loads of channels available for your viewing pleasure, a fully stocked refrigerator, room service and a scalding hot shower."

I started blankly at the card keys in her hand, feeling an odd sense of loneliness come over me. The light that lit up Naomi's eyes was enough to put a raw pit of feeling in my stomach.

"Wicked," Naomi said, grabbing her key. "Can we order anything?"

Marie laughed.

"Of course, just nothing ridiculous. First two nights are on us," she explained.

I forced out a laugh, feeling the need to convince everyone around me that I wasn't falling into a panic. Naomi shot me a look, but then brought her eyes back to Marie.

"Can you wait for my mum downstairs? I want you to meet her," Naomi said. Marie smiled and nodded her head. She looked over at me.

"I have the number for your room, if I hear anything from your folks, I'll forward the line," she said.

"Thanks," I said. Marie walked down the hall.

"God I want waffles," Naomi breathed out. This time I actually laughed, really laughed. She turned to me with a full smile. "Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded, lying, obviously. I wasn't going to be okay, but I was going to force myself to be okay. We were safe. In a fancy hotel. I could be alone. I had to learn how to be alone and in the real world again, just like before all of this.

"Come knock when you're done," Naomi said, and slipped inside of her room.

It was odd to me how quickly Naomi had gone from not okay to perfectly fine in a matter of seconds. Then again, her mum was on her way to comfort her and whisk her back away to London. My parents were out of the country.

Suck it the fuck up, Emily. I was getting irritated with myself. I unlocked my own door and stepped inside the room. It was ridiculously posh. Fancy bedding, fancy furniture, huge TV set on the armoire. I dropped the key on the table by the door and walked into the room.

I sat on a chair by the bed and stared at the bag in my hand. It contained some pain medication. I looked around and spotted a bottle of water in the kitchenette, and managed to calm my shaking hands enough to take a dose. I laid back in the chair, making myself breath. Trying to calm my riddled body.

First step: Shower. Second step: Food. Third step: well, I didn't have a third step. I just had my aching body and my increasingly depressing thoughts.

I had a random burst of paranoia, and immediately zipped up and locked the door, even dead bolting the top of it. Then I ran over to the window and locked it, closing the curtains. I rubbed my hands on my thighs and chastised myself for being such a pansy.

Then the phone rang.

"Aah!" I yelped, nearly jumping out of my skin. I let out a few dry chuckles at what an idiot I was being. Being alone was certainly exposing new fears in me.

I walked over and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Miss Fitch?" Bradley's voice came through the line.

"Yes?" I answered, feeling a spark of hope. He wouldn't be calling unless...

"Your sister rang us back here at the station," he said.

"Really?" I asked, a new jolt of energy flying through my body.

"She said she's been checking your parents voice mail every day and happened upon ours only minutes after leaving it," he said.

"But she called back," I asked again, in a rush.

"Yes, but I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said.

Every ounce of joy deflated from me in seconds. Now what?

"Your sister called me from a hospital in New York City, where your family has been vacationing for the past three weeks. I am under the impression your father experienced a stroke."

"What?" I asked, shocked. My dad wasn't old. At least not for a dad. He was young, and in shape, and...young.

"Your sister blamed stress. She said he's totally fine, but they can't fly out for a little while."

"What?" I asked again, sadness taking over my tone.

"Your mum refuses to leave his side apparently. Your sister said her and your brother will fly out as soon as next week," he said.

My stomach clenched. That hurt. That really, truly hurt. I have been missing, assumed dead by my entire family for over three months. I am now back, and safe, and they aren't immediately coming here?

"What did they say?" I blurted out, the thought coming to my mind.

"I'm sorry, what?" Bradley asked, obviously just as surprised by my question as I was.

"When you told Katie, what did she say?" I asked, preparing to hang on every word Bradley said. I heard him clear his throat.

"It was only a brief phone conversation..." he started, and I could tell he was beating around the bush.

"Bradley. Human to human, what did she say?" I asked, already feeling an overwhelming sadness consume me.

"Not much," Bradley admitted. "She sounded too shocked to be emotional."

That I could believe. If there was anything my sister was good at, it was protecting her emotions with a bitchy, fuck-all exterior. A little bit similar to the way Naomi had described herself previous to these events.

"Did she sound happy?" I pressed.

"She was so shocked," he emphasized again. Tears sprang to my eyes.

"Didn't they want to talk to me?" I asked, my voice cracking. I heard Bradley clear his throat again, uncomfortably, through the line.

"Katie asked for your room number. She said she would call in a few days," he said.

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me.

"Thank you, I'm going to go take a shower," I said, and hung up the phone before Bradley could say anything.

So, that was it. After all of that. I felt ridiculously foolish. One of the things that had kept me running in that tiny, white room was imagining the looks on my families faces when I returned. I imagined the scenario happening slightly similar to what had actually happened. A police force finding us, taking us to a phone line, making a call and hearing my mother's overly joyous voice, hearing my sister sob in the background, hearing my dad grab everyone into a Fitch Hug.

But, I had never imagined this. I had never imagined not being able to get a hold of my family, finding they're out of the country, finding out my father had a stroke, and then finding out that not only is my family not going to immediately fly out to see me, but they didn't even bother to ring me on the phone.

Emptiness. That's the only emotion I felt. My body started shaking, and I couldn't even cry.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, turning on the shower to the hottest temperature. The steam started rolling out of the bathroom and I sat on the toilet staring into it for a while. Watching the rolls of off-white air roll around. It reminded me of the cold, even though it was so warm. I had spent so long staring at my own breath, in the cold, dark night. This bright warmth was unnerving.

I carefully stripped myself of my shirt and shorts, and then my undergarments. I watched the pile of clothes sat on the floor. Dirty and smelly. But they were the only real evidence in this hotel room to remind me of the torture we had been through. I glimpsed over my shoulder at my appearance in the mirror, and almost jumped.

I didn't recognize myself. I hadn't looked in a mirror in over three months. Not even back at the disgusting motel room, we were in too much of a rush.

My bright red hair was a much darker shade, the dirt and oil caused the dye to wear off. My dark roots had began to grow back. I had huge circles under my eyes and my face looked gaunt. In fact, the most startling part was how thin I looked. I had always been a small person, but right now I looked deathly. The big clothes had hidden my body from myself. My ribs stuck out, and I could see my spine along my back. My jaw bones jutted out and my collar bones sunk it. Not to mention, black and blue ran across my body like tattoos, each one told a story.

I finally dragged my body into the shower and slid the door shut. The hot water was scalding on my body, but it felt right. I was finally feeling something. Something other than the erupting loneliness and emptiness. The water pounded on my back and I rolled my head around, loosening my back muscles. I pressed my hands against the wall in front of me, leaning against it. Letting the water wash away every spec of dirt. I glanced down at my feet and noticed my small tattoo. It said "top day digger, bottom night roller." Both sentences stacked on top of each other in kid handwriting. My sister and I both have them. It was a birthday gift to each other last year. To bind us even more physically than we already are. It's an inside joke from a game we used to play as kids, and makes it that much more special. That coming from the twin who was in too much shock to talk to me.

Something snapped inside of me and I collapsed on the bathroom floor, threading my fingers through my hair and tugging. My brain felt like it was exploding out of my head and I needed relief. Relief from the emotion, relief from the pain, relief from my own body and memory.

"Emily?" A voice called out.

Before I could even sit up, the shower door slid open, revealing a stricken looking Naomi. She was dressed in training pants and a shirt, her hair tied back. She had obviously showered long ago.

"Emily, jesus christ," she said. Then not even caring she was completely dressed or that I was completely naked, she slipped into the shower with me, and turned off the water. She sat down next to me and forced me to look into her eyes. "What the fuck?"

I looked down, ashamed I had come so close to breaking. Especially when Naomi seemed to have it all together. Where was the bad mouthed, action-packed Emily from the past few days? Where was she hiding?

"Don't do that," she said, lifting my face again. "Talk to me."

"My family. Well, my sister called. My dad had a stroke. They're in the states. They aren't coming back for a while," I admitted.

"What? Why not. You've been gone for three months!" she said, shock lacing her words.

"I dunno," I shrugged.

"Fucks sake. If you were my sister I would have held someone at gun point to get on the fastest plane over here," she said.

Naomi's pathetic attempt at an entirely inappropriate joke made me finally lose it. I started sobbing so hard, I couldn't breath. I heard Naomi intake a sharp breath, and no more than a half a second later, I felt her arms slip around me. Holding me tight.

"Lucky for you though, I'm not your sister," she stated. I tried to stop my crying, and only managed to give myself the hiccups. I didn't know what she meant by that and was much too tired to process it.

I'm not sure when I stopped crying, but eventually my body dried itself up. I leaned into Naomi, trying not to become even more vividly aware that I was completely naked in a shower with her. She soothed my hair with a free hand and pulled me in closer.

"You're not crazy. You're not alone," she said.

I closed my eyes, willing to believe it.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello everyone. Massive apology. My moronic self didn't edit my last chapter, and left out a crucial part many of you brilliant readers caught on to. How in the world Naomi got into Emily's room. Despite the importance, it was quite a boring detail, to be honest. I had a paragraph written about the rooms having adjoining doors, and about Emily almost locking it. La la la, but I felt it was unnecessary. Then stupidly forgot to put the adjoining door part back in. So sorry, nothing super cool to that missing detail unfortunately. **

**That being said here's to another chapter and more Naomi/Emily development. I must say, your encouragement is fucking fabulous. Truly. I was nervous posting that last chapter, as well as this one, because it's stretching out my comfort zone in writing. Ironically, writing the tense scenes is rather easy for me. This whole exploring relationships things is not my comfortable forte. But after reading your kind words, I trudged on, and managed to punch out another long one. Please enjoy, please keep being awesome, nuff said. : )**

**Skins isn't mine. **

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 22**

A while later, I was sat on the large bed in my hotel room. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least. After crying myself dry, then shivering myself into a fit, I had let Naomi hoist me out of the shower. As she turned her back to allow me some privacy while I toweled myself off, I realized what had really just happened. I was ironically thankful because it had provided an outlet for me to temporarily forget everything.

Naomi was pacing in front of me, a worried look encasing her features.

"Naomi, please stop pacing," I asked her, after watching her a few minutes and finding myself dizzy.

"You've got to be honest with me," she said, sounding exasperated. She leaned against the large armoire, crossing her arms in front of her.

"What?"

"If you're upset you have to be honest with me. Just because we aren't running for our lives anymore, doesn't mean you can suddenly stop trusting me," she said. She bit her lip, and only then did I notice it was quivering.

"Naoms..." I said, trailing off. I didn't know what to say. A fresh wave of emotion ceased me at seeing her so upset.

"Next time you feel upset like that, you come to me," she said firmly. I watched her swallow heavily, and then adjust herself.

"You were happy about your mum, I didn't want to bust that," I admitted, quietly. It was a shoddy excuse, but a valid one.

"But you're my...you're my Emily. Alright? That trumps a lot. Don't doubt that," she said harshly.

I was taken a back. Naomi didn't often speak to me like that. Although, I wasn't stupid. She was hiding being upset with being angry. It was a trait that helped up a lot throughout this endeavor.

"I'll try not too," I said.

Naomi nodded curtly, letting out a breath. Then looked at me worried again.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Before I could answer, she let out a laugh. "That's a moronic question. Of course you're not alright. Neither of us are alright."

"I think my family situation finally got to me, you know?"

"Well, I want to slug each and every one of them," Naomi offered.

"That probably wouldn't go over well," I said, trying not to smile at Naomi's protective nature. At least that was a new constant in my life. "My mum automatically hates any girl I introduce her too."

"Like girlfriends?" Naomi asked, breezily.

"Well yeah, but like, anyone really," I stuttered out. She had caught me off guard. We had talked about my previous love life. She knew I liked girls, had dated girls, but that was about as far as the conversation went. She didn't seemed bothered by it, in fact, whenever the conversation came up, she always spoke about it as breezily as she just did.

"Oh, is she one of those mothers who assumes everyone you bring home is your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, sort of..." I said, my voice trailing off. "She is in such denial. Always has been."

"How so?" Naomi asked. I was a legit question. Amazingly, this hadn't actually come up in our thousands of conversations.

"She's always figured I was. She told Katie that once. That she's always assumed something was different with me. When I actually came out with it, she just brushed it off. Once we came across the money, she literally asked me to keep it off the radar, as not to put off her "new friends." She's so petrified of what it will mean for her, she won't admit it to herself. Won't let me be me."

"I'm so sorry, that's horrible," Naomi said with a frown, shaking her head. She bent down and picked up the towels we had used to dry ourselves off. "Thank god my mum's not like that about me. She can be your pseudo support."

With that she walked into the bathroom. And thank fuck for that because if my jaw hit the floor any harder, it would have traveled through the earth and ended up on the other side.

My heart instantly sped up. What in the world did she mean by that. I realized, with a start, that Naomi had never actually admitted to dating anyone. The closest she ever got was telling me a story about some boy she punched after he asked her out on a date by burping it out. Now that I think about it, she never actually said whether she would have gone on that date, or stated any preference otherwise.

I heard her footsteps come back out, and I met her gaze, and instantly knew my shock was evident. She smirked at me.

"You may know more about me than nearly every body, but you don't know everything," she said.

"I never assumed I did," I fired back, trying to get a grip. She was messing with me, pulling me out on a string, and well aware of it. It put a long missing fire under my ass.

"I only hope I don't know everything about you either," she said, leaning back on the armoire she been previously leaning against.

"Why?"

"Means I was right about you."

"Meaning?"

"There's more to you than meets the eye. I don't have many friends, but the friends I do constantly keep me on my feet. Never bore me. You should be happy to call yourself one of them."

I felt my heart deflate a little at that. The friend word. That stupid word. It drove me nuts whenever she used it, and I didn't understand why. As I've said, I knew I liked Naomi more than my normal friends, but I still had no idea what that meant. I was still stuck in our bubble. Panic grew at the thought of returning to the real world. I had grown ridiculously and abnormally used to my life in these past last three months. It was all I knew, even if I wished it to end. Naomi was a huge part of that. Any mention of the word "friend" or "home" made me anxious, because it didn't immediately include me and her.

But I will admit, being told I was one of the few people she held close to her made me feel special. I didn't know Naomi at all outside of our little world, but I had an idea. She had three friends at home, two girls and a guy, but that was it. It wasn't that she couldn't make friends, it was that she had no interest in doing so. Literally no interest. That kind of indifference is agonizing to any person. It goes against basic human nature, against any social rules. Makes you want to be her friend, even if you hate her. Breaking past that felt like a triumph, despite any side meanings.

"You act as if you're not lucky to be considered my friend," I said, trying to make light of the situation. Too many emotions would inevitably cause another break down, and I needed the remains of my ego in tact.

"Because I don't."

"What?" I practically shouted.

"I feel lucky I consider you my friend," she clarified. "You said it yourself, you've been invisible a lot of the time, yeah?"

"I suppose, yeah," I said, feeling my face get red.

"I'm infinitely glad I was forced to get to you know you, because now I can't imagine my life with out you. Once you see you, actually see you, it's hard to turn away," she said.

She collapsed me with her back-ass-wards logic. Again. Jesus. Naomi had this odd way of almost stripping you of your ego, jumbling it up and delivering it back to you on a beautiful platter, displayed in a way you'd never seen before. It was annoying. And endearing. Annoyingly endearing and endearingly annoying.

I smiled down into my lap.

"There you are," Naomi said. I brought my head back up to see another rare smile on her face. "Thought you almost left me there."

"I'm still me. I'm still Emily," I said, letting my smile show this time. "Just a little fucked up at the minute."

"Always Emily," she said, with a shake of her head.

"Naomi?" a voice from Naomi's room said. The door adjoining our rooms was still open.

"Mum?" she called back out, pushing her self off the armoire and walking over to the door.

A blonde woman, strikingly similar to Naomi with shorter hair appeared at the door way. She had a large bag hanging from her shoulder and looked like she'd been traveling for ages.

A blur flew in front of my eyes as Naomi launched herself at her mum. Gina lifted her up and spun her around. Both muttering phrases I couldn't hear.

I pushed myself upright off the bed and straightened out the clothes I had been given to wear. Tucking my hair behind my ears, trying to remain in the background as to not ruin the moment.

It was to no avail. They were only about two feet away from me, and Gina lifted her head off of Naomi's shoulder after a second and spotted me. She reached out an arm, managed to grip an inch of my shirt and pulled me into the hug. It shocked me. I had never been really hugged by my mum. Not the most affectionate woman, though it seemed Gina was.

"Thank you for watching my daughter," she said, hugging us even tighter.

"She didn't do all the work," Naomi said, causing Gina to chuckle.

"She'll never change. But thank you for watching my daughter," she repeated again, finally letting go of us.

"It wasn't a problem," I said, pulling back and crossing my arms in front of me again. I stared around my room, desperately trying to find something to use as an excuse. I felt like the third wheel, and it had only been a minute. They needed their time.

"Modest," Gina said, nodding happily and pointing to me while looking at Naomi. "I already like her."

"She's actually quite obnoxious, just give her some time," Naomi said.

"Oye!" I said, smacking her with my arm.

"An insult is like a gift of love from her," Gina said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, i've received many."

"Cow..." Naomi mumbled under her breath, and hid a smirk. It was interesting to watch the repore' between Naomi and her mum. It was easy. It was honest.

Gina backed up from the two of us and scanned us with her eyes. She clicked her tongue a few times and shook her head.

"You two need some food. Skinny things, both of you," she said, then turned and walked into Naomi's room. "Come, come. We'll get some food at the hotel. We've got a lot to talk about. I doubt you'll be able to eat in public with out being bothered once this all gets out."

Her seemingly nonchalant attitude surprised me. I was expecting tears, shouts for joy. Exclamations of surprise and uncontrolled emotion. I wasn't expected Gina to be so calm and...well, normal. Suggesting to eat out, as if it were a normal night event. I immediately felt myself protest.

"No, no. You two must want some time. I was planning on just ordering some food for myself and passing out in front of the tube," I said, waving my hands in front of me.

"Emily," Gina said, with a warning tone to her voice. "You join us for dinner or I'll pick you up, throw you over my shoulder and force you. You're tiny, it won't take much."

"Don't you want too..." I started.

"That lovely Marie woman has told me your parents are out of town. You need a parent. You need some attention," Gina said, as if it were the end of the discussion.

I looked helplessly at Naomi, hoping she'd come to my defense, but all I got from her was a shake of her head. My arguments were obviously useless.

"Alright," I said, giving in. Truth was, I didn't really want to be alone. I didn't want to talk about anything, but I didn't want to be alone more.

The three of us headed down to the hotel diner. We got a booth in the back. Naomi and I on one side, Gina on the other. The waitress took our orders immediately and we were left alone.

Gina folded her hands on the table and looked at the pair of us again. I finally was able to read the emotion on her face. Just like Naomi, she was easier to read then a children's book. Every emotion was alive in her wide eyes. I saw immense sadness, immense joy and immense exhaustion. It made me remember that as much as Naomi and I had been through, Gina had her own tale to tell. Her own pain.

"How are you?" I blurted out, before I could stop myself. Gina's eyes shined and she chuckled.

"That's a big question for an even bigger topic," Gina said. I blushed at the stupidity of my question, which made her laugh even more. "I'm lovely. Better than I've felt in days. You two gave us all quite a run around, disappearing like that."

"I have so many questions," Naomi blurted out, similarly to how I had. We were obviously spilling over with wonder. Wonder on Gina's story. Wonder on how it fit into ours.

"I bet you I have even more," Gina countered.

"We know our story, we want to know yours," I urged, feeling more antsy by the second. Memories came flooding back. Gina had known. She had known Naomi was still alive and had fought to find her. We eventually found ourselves for her, but her efforts left me in amazement. A mother who fought so strongly for her child. The thought just amazed me. Amazed me in a foreign way.

"Where should I start?" Gina asked, her words voicing slight annoyance. I could tell she wanted to object, but didn't have it in her.

"The beginning, sheesh," Naomi breathed out. I nudged her rudeness, but already found Gina smiling lovingly at Naomi.

"You were taken in August. The 19th of August to be exact," Gina said to Naomi. I already felt the hairs on my arms stand on end. It was weird to have a date for our hell, or at least Naomi's. These were dates we hadn't been entirely sure of for the most part. "I woke up and knew something was wrong. When you went missing, I honestly had the whole of London alerted. Turns out communal living leaves you set with enough friends to form a search army."

I glanced over at Naomi and caught her rolling her eyes. She had told me stories of this communal living.

"After two weeks, the local enforcement urged me to quit my searching. To let them take over. They claimed it wasn't a simple thing anymore, I needed to keep living my life. But I knew they were wrong. I could feel it," she said.

"How?" Naomi asked, her voice sounding small. Even though Gina was her flesh and blood, she was obviously just as surprised at how sure Gina sounded of herself.

"I can't explain it. You might not completely understand until you have a child of your own, but I knew I'd know if you were gone. It was almost like I could feel your presence somewhere. Nevertheless, everyone said I was nuts. But the detective on the case said his team had found chloroform on the floor. They found tire tracks in our side garden that were traced back to a van. They figured out the make and model of the van, but unfortunately it was an extremely popular work van, and there was no way to track it based on that."

"It didn't stop me from trying though. The local vehicle registrars provided me with the registration of each and every make of that van in all of England. I spent hours upon hours calling these homes, looking for a lead. The detectives on your case had all about given up, except for one guy. His name was Jim, and he is the husband of Marie."

"What?" Both Naomi and I blurted out, interrupting her story. I hadn't seen that one coming.

"I tell you, if there is any true purpose for a relationship, they are the prime example. Her own team was right in the middle of this town, and Jim was on your case. They weren't linked until months later, when Marie had managed to send Jim an email and he brilliantly linked things together. That's when I really started in on it."

"So you know about the town?" Naomi asked. Gina shook her head.

"What town?" she asked confused, then shook her head and looked embarrassed. "I'll say right now, I was kept in the dark. Purposefully. These detectives had no idea if you were alive, so they didn't want to give me hope. But Jim is a very talk-a-tive fellow and ended up spilling some facts. I knew you were north. I knew they thought you were alive, they just didn't know where you were. I knew others had been involved, other kidnappings."

"Jim had minimal contact with Marie, and even she wasn't allowed to divulge much to him, but he did manage to get some names of other children who were kidnapped. I contacted one of the families. I swear to god, it was harder than getting a meeting with the Queen. The family adamantly refused to have any knowledge of what I was on about. They lived in Bath, so I went to visit them. They finally broke down and revealed a real whopper."

"The other loads of successful kidnap transactions," Naomi said, bitterly.

"Yes. I wasn't surprised to be honest. I knew this whole thing was big. The secrets were getting larger than the problem. Jim was telling me less and less, Marie was telling him less and less and all three of us were getting more and more invested. I visited the family because it was something I could do. Something I could contribute to. The mother was the one to crack. Her son, Billy, had been taken from his bed in the middle of the night. They had been contacted by mail. Given a pay-as-you-go mobile phone and a number to call. They were given instructions, a ransom amount and the accounts to put it in. She explained they were given a certain amount of days to make it happen and ordered under strict silence. She didn't tell me exactly what threatened her into obliging, but I know there were serious threats. Apparently they had to cut the amount into four parts and stick them into various over seas accounts with money orders, or something. Then, sure as shit, their son was returned to his bed a few days after."

"Holy fuck," I said, unable to control myself. That town truly was a machine. If this was a normal story, then not only had Donald and his team managed to brain wash everyone in the town, they had brainwashed numerous families. too It made me sick.

"That's one way to put it dear," Gina said.

"When did you talk to them?" Naomi asked.

"Only about two weeks ago," Gina admitted. That surprised me. Our journey outside of our white rooms was only about a week of time, but it felt like ages longer. It made me wonder, if the mistake with the construction people hadn't happened, if Gina or the detectives or Marie would have made different choices, changing our fate.

"They very, very reluctantly gave up the bank information after I pestered them. The father had a row at me about it as well. He told me they're untraceable, because he tried himself. But I dove into that information, and found a lead. The funds were sorted on the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean. Then they were transferred to a bank organization in Scotland. I was on my way up to Scotland when I received the phone call from Jim about your whereabouts."

"You were so close," Naomi said, sounding as surprised as I felt.

"I reckon I might have gotten something for the detectives, but I doubt I would have contributed to your discovery. It sounded as if Marie had that completely under control. I'm still a little miffed I was kept in the dark about all that," Gina tutted. "But I imagine Jim is even more miffed. I suppose though, that secrecy comes with both of their job titles."

"But you kept looking," I said. The bitterness evident in my voice. Gina raised an eyebrow at me.

"I did," she said, scanning my face. "Where did that outburst come from."

"Mum, leave it," Naomi said. She moved her hand off the table and set it down in between us on the bench where my hand was laying. Her pinky finger laid on top of mine.

"What?" Gina said, looking genuinely confused and concerned. "What is it?"

"My parents, they thought I was dead," I said.

Gina nodded.

"I'm afraid I saw that on the television. You're the daughter of Rob and Jenna Fitch, right?"

I nodded.

"Very early on the detectives had assumed you two might be together, given the similarities. I tried contacting your parents, but they refused to speak with me."

That hurt. That hurt a lot. Knowing that my parents were basically handed a good reason to keep looking for me, and didn't take it.

"Doesn't surprise me," I mumbled.

"Emily Fitch," Gina said, sharply. My head snapped up to meet her gaze. "Marie told me you were a bit of a tiger, but I imagined you had more fight in you."

"Sorry?" I bumbled out.

"Eeveryone handles pain differently. Until you speak with you parents, you can't judge their actions," Gina said.

"Mum, they know she's alive. They aren't even flying to see her," Naomi insisted.

Gina looked back and forth between her daughter and I, looking curiously at us. Then her face recovered and she looked adamant again.

"I'll imagine that hurt," Gina said, her voice softening. I nodded, feeling the tears spring to my eyes again. "Look at Naomi. She has been a right cow to me for most of her life, and she got a mother who still searched for her. We're all dealt personalities. Then we have families and children with even more different personalities, but you can pick and choose family. Life's about making the personalities mesh as best possible."

"Where are you going with this?" Naomi asked.

"My point is going back to what I said, everyone deals with things differently. Maybe your parents were so distraught they couldn't bare looking. Just accepted facts, accepted reality."

"That doesn't excuse them staying in New York," I said.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be mad at them," Gina said.

"I'm not mad, I'm upset."

"As you should be. I'm sorry, I think I'm getting off track here," Gina said, eyeing Naomi. I saw a hardened look on Naomi's face, and most likely the reason for Gina's backtracking. "I can see Naomi cares for you, so you've got to have some gusto to you. Your family certainly has some explaining to do. In the mean time, I'll take you under my wing."

"You don't have to," I said, letting my annoyance go. Gina did have an annoying point. I could be mad, but until I actually spoke with my family, I couldn't be mad at them.

"You won't have a choice," Naomi said, nudging me.

Gina looked between the two of us again, her eyebrow raising.

"What?" Naomi asked.

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"I'm just happy to see there is still some of the old Naomi in you. I was terrified you'd be gone."

"I think we're both in shock still. Maybe the freak-out will come in a few days," I offered. Although, I was thinking the same thing. I had my breakdown, of sorts. I assume there are more to come, but Naomi was very calm. Too calm.

"Maybe when you two actually talk about it, it'll become reality," Gina said. "You both have been avoiding the topic like the plague."

"True," Naomi shrugged, not even bothering to lie about it. I was happy we were on the same page about that as well. I wasn't ready to talk about anything.

Our food was finally delivered to our table and we spent the next half hour in almost complete silence. Naomi and I wolfed down our food, barely even tasting it. My stomach hurt after, but it was an okay hurt. It was a step toward putting some much needed meat back on my bones.

Once my stomach was full, I felt my eyelids begin to droop. I watched as Naomi's body slumped further down into the booth.

"Bedtime for bonzo's," Gina said, laughing at us. I slowly looked up at her. She was an odd woman. A lovely woman, but an odd one.

We slid out of the booth and into the elevator back up to our rooms.

"Don't think this excuses you two from talking. You need to talk," Gina said.

"Can't we talk to each other?" Naomi whined.

"That's fine. Just talk," Gina ordered.

We stepped off the elevator and walked to our doors. In a zombie-like fashion, I pulled my key out of my pocket and slid it into the door, opening mine. I felt Gina and Naomi walk behind me and open their own door.

Gina shot a wry smile at me, and then whispered something in Naomi's ear. Naomi simply nodded, in her own half-asleep fashion and walked over to me.

"Mum says I should keep you company. Plus she likes to watch the television, and I hate when she does that while I'm sleeping," Naomi said.

The look I caught on Gina's face was one of great curiosity. Did she have something against me? Is she trying to figure me out? Figure out why her daughter took me under her wing? I was too tired to guess.

Leading Naomi and I into my room, I shut the door and dead bolted it again. I went over to the window and double checked it was shut.

"Paranoia," Naomi stated simply, sliding into one side of the bed easily. "I wonder when that will stop."

"Beats me," I said. I opened up my pain medicine bottle and pulled out a tablet for Naomi and myself. Turning the overhead light off, I handed her a pill and slid into the bed next to her, laying on my back.

Jesus this bed felt good. I hadn't properly slept in what felt like ages. Even in the white rooms, the beds were stiffer than normal and all we had was a sheet to cover us. This bed was plush, full of covers and pillows and I sunk right in.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," Naomi said after a few minutes. I sighed out in relief.

"Me fucking either," I said.

Naomi turned her head to look at me from her pillow.

"People are going to want a story. My mum will want something. The police will want something. Every one will want something," she said, distastefully.

"I hate it. I wish we could just be."

"Well, we don't have to be alone in it. How about we make a promise?"

"What sort of promise?"

"No talking about it unless the other one is present. I think that might help."

I started at the ceiling and let my eyes shut, feeling my body relax further. Knowing Naomi was by my side while retelling the story would definitely help.

"You've got yourself a deal, babe," I said, the term slipping out in my half-conscious state.

Silence fell over the room and I was in that sweet, sweet haze of a deep slumber, when I felt an ankle swing itself over mine.

I jolted awake, and my movement caused Naomi to sit up and throw the covers off in a half a second. We started at each other wide-eyed and then around the room.

I was the first one to burst into laughter because my gaze immediately fell on the perpetrator: Naomi's leg. It had rolled over onto mine.

Naomi soon joined me and we laughed until it turned into a nervous giggle.

"Fuck. I'm more paranoid now than I was in the forest," Naomi said. "At least in there I knew the danger was coming."

I knew exactly what she meant. This was horrible. I scanned the room again. Then I leaned over and turned on my lamp. The light eased the pressure on my chest. Naomi turned on hers. We looked at each other sheepishly.

I slid completely under the covers, letting the heavy duvet fall over my head. I could almost feel Naomi's eye roll and soon she joined me under the covers.

"Don't you say a word, you know you feel safer," I said, sternly.

"I always feel safer with you. I've said that," Naomi said, a little too seriously for me. I stared at her face, her blue eyes boring into mine. I could barely see them through the darkness under the duvet, but they were there. The darkness, the lack of senses, was our norm. Just being, and knowing the other person is also just being, is a sense of calm.

"Can we stay here like this?" I asked.

I felt Naomi nod and I finally relaxed, letting sleep succumb me. The heat radiating off of Naomi's body helped the lull.

I faintly remember hearing a knock on the door. The knocking was loud and I jolted awake, only to quickly hear voices outside the room. I had to remind myself Gina was only next door. The door adjoining our rooms was unlocked. Naomi pulled me back down under the covers, telling me it was probably the detectives or police wanting our story. I didn't care, I was still dead and quickly fell back asleep.

Eventually my body finally rose from sleep. Naomi's calm breathing told me she was still out like a light. Her sleep warmth still rolled off her body. After being so cold, for so long, I was almost sweaty underneath this duvet.

I popped my head out and sucked in a breath of fresh air. The room smelled like sleep. I looked at the alarm clock on my bed table and it read 11 p.m. Dammit, I had only slept for maybe five hours. No wonder my body was still sore. My stomach growled loudly and I almost laughed. After little to no food for so long, I bet my body burned through what I fed it a few hours ago in seconds.

I slid onto the floor and padded across the room to the bathroom. Shutting the door, I turned on the light and took a good look at myself. I was surprised to find a little pink in my cheeks. I didn't look so deathly anymore. I turned on the faucet and splashed some water on my face and retied my hair neatly on top of my head, swiping away the strands that fell out.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed the light from Gina's room was on. I decided to see if she knew of any food I could get at this time of night. Peering back over my shoulder, I double checked to make sure Naomi was asleep, and opened the door.

Gina was laying on the bed, surrounded by bags of cookies and magazines. The television was blaring and she looked deep into an article in the latest gossip magazine. She looked up at the noise.

"Well, well, well, look who's up," Gina said, a smile gracing her features.

"Yeah, five hours isn't what I was hoping for, but at least it's something," I said.

Gina frowned at me, plucked off her reading glasses and sat up.

"What are you talking about, love?" she asked.

"It's eleven at night, I was saying I had high hopes of sleeping through the night but..." I started.

Gina laughed, loudly. I heard Naomi rustle behind me, as I was still standing in the doorway of our adjoining rooms.

"Oh dear, you didn't sleep for five hours, you two have been sleeping for nearly 30 hours," she said.

I felt a look of surprise hit my face.

"No way," I said, flabbergasted. There is no way Naomi and I had slept for over a day.

"I checked on you every four hours or so. Out harder than a sack of potatoes, you two. Must have been exhausted," Gina said.

"We didn't really sleep since we left the white rooms," I said.

I watched Gina's eyebrows furor, and I caught myself.

"Sorry," I said, suddenly, not really sure why.

"Don't apologize. It's your story to share," Gina said.

"With Naomi," I said, remembering the deal we had made before falling asleep.

"Of course," Gina said. She looked at her watch and sat up even straighter.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked.

"Well, no. But you are," she said, mystically.

"Sorry?"

"You had a visitor just a few hours ago, but I told her to let you sleep," Gina said. "She's getting food, but I asked to be back up here by 11. She should be back any minute."

"Who? Marie?" I asked, very confused.

"No, love, your sister. Katie?" Gina said.

Another wave of shock hit me. Katie was here? Katie was in this hotel?

"Where is she?" I asked, quickly.

"Where is who?" I heard Naomi ask groggily from behind me. I spun around and was met with her sleepy form.

"My sister is here," I said, my voice laced with excitement and dread. I didn't know that was possible.

"Katie?" Naomi asked, blinking a few times. Getting her bearings.

"She's downstairs, they let her order some food, but she had to pick it up," Gina said from behind me.

I didn't even pause, I flew over to the door, pulled it open and charged down the hall way to the stairs. I charged down the two flights, bursting through the door into the lobby, scaring both hotel clerks at the front desk.

My sock clad feet slid on the fancy tile as I darted over to the restaurant. It was empty. I spun back around to the front desk.

"Where would someone pick up food?" I blurted out.

"Down this hall way and..." one of the desk clerks started.

"Emily?" I heard a voice say. One that was distinctly Katie's. It was filled with an incredulous tone. I glanced over to the hallway the desk clerk was pointing at and saw her.

Her hair was dyed a dark purple now, but her face was clean of makeup. She was wearing jeans and a large green zip-up sweater, holding a food bag in her hand. Her eyes were wide. She looked exhausted. And she looked terrified.

"Katie," I breathed out.

Katie dropped her eyes to the floor, breathed out and brought them back up to me. This time there were tears in them.

"You're here. You're actually here," she said, her bottom jaw quivering. A large, fat tear popped out from her eye, rolling down her face.

I didn't have words. Any previous anger immediately vanquished, at least for the moment. I flew forward and launched myself at her, wrapping my arms around her neck.

I felt her warp her arms around my back and hug me tight. I'm sure the poor desk clerks were even more confused, as the two of us sobbed, quite loudly, into each others shirts.

"You came," I said, finally finding my words.

Katie moved her hands from my upper back to my middle back, securing her grip.

"I'm a fucking idiot," she said. "We thought you were dead Ems. Mum and Dad were absolutely convinced. We even had a private funeral for you."

"What?" I asked, finally pulling away a little bit to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," Katie said, lowering her eyes again.

"Why?" I asked, seemingly unable to form anything but monosyllabic words.

"That Bradley guy, the police officer on your case? When he called and left a message on dad's phone, I fucking freaked. Mum has been mute since dad had his stroke, even thought he's going to recover. It was selfish, but it was all too much. Knowing I had to walk into that hospital room and tell mum you were still alive, it was just too much. I didn't know if her own body could handle it."

"Wouldn't she be happy?" I asked.

"Obviously, but shocked too. Why do you think dad had the stroke? He's been fucking mashed ever since you disappeared. His body gave up."

I looked down, the ever-familiar unexplained guilt racked my body. I knew my disappearance would have caused stress for my family. I had never really guessed how much though.

"And when," Katie said, her voice catching in her throat. She cleared it. "The second I hung up the phone with Bradley, after xplaining I needed some time, I felt like someone slapped me. Like the ghost of your disappearance past came and slapped me. I didn't even tell mum I left. I just grabbed her credit card and went to the airport."

I pulled her into me, feeling a huge weight lift off my shoulders. Katie wasn't a total tart. She had a conscious. She did care about it. She was clearly completely wrecked over the situation, and had just flown across the atlantic in less then a day to come see me.

As I peered over Katie's shoulders, I saw the forms of Naomi and Gina appear in the lobby. Probably checking on where I was.

Naomi stared at me. Her eyes pierced into mine. She gave a small smile, and I offered one back, not letting go of her gaze. True to her word, she held it, piercing me all the way through to my tired, weary heart.


	23. Chapter 23

**Bah, i'm too invested in this story! This is getting ridiculous. I suppose these constant updates are good news for anyone reading this, just not so good sucking up all my lunch breaks and such typing this thing away. I don't know how I manage to write so much in so little time, hope you don't mind. **

**So happy you're enjoying this story still, despite the lack of action! Can't say it enough. Thank you thank you thank you. **

**Now onto what you really want; the damn story...**

**Don't own skins, yadda, yadda**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 23**

The four of us moved back up to our rooms after the hotel manager politely asked us to keep it down. Naomi and her mum were in their room, Katie and I in mine. I was curled up on the chair with a blanket covering my body while Katie paced in front of me. She kept stopping to adjust the blanket on my body, or to wipe an imaginary smudge of dirt off of my arms or face. She's normally not this touchy-feely, but I got the distinct feeling she was still trying to grasp that I was actually here. Actually in front of her, here to touch and talk to to.

"How's dad?" I asked. Now that my anger had dissipated at the knowledge that at least one person in my family cared about me enough to hop on a plane, my brain allowed itself to finally worry about them.

"He should recover fine. He's in the hospital until he can eat on his own and go a week answering these questions correctly from a psychologist. Or something," Katie said. My foot slipped off the chair and stuck out from the blanket. She paused her speaking to momentarily push it back under the covers. "He lost complete control of his left side, but they assure us he'll regain control with therapy. Physically he's fine, and emotionally he's even better."

"Yeah?" I asked surprised. For some reason I didn't see my dad happy about the fact that he'd lost strength in one side of his body.

"You know dad, always optimistic."

"What did he say, what did mum say when you told them about me?" I finally asked.

"Dad looked like he was punched in the nose for a few seconds, and then asked to speak to the doctors to find out when he could be released. Mum didn't say anything," Katie said, her voice lowering at the last part.

"Oh," I said, looking down at the blanket in my lap.

"Don't take it to heart. She hasn't spoken a word since dad was hurt," Katie said.

Right, I had forgotten. In the rush of seeing Katie again, her telling me that slipped my mind.

"Why not?"

"You know mum too. Always in control, always supporting her image. As of 72 hours ago, her daughter was dead and her husband was down from a stroke. She was at a point where she had no control, no image."

"Did she seem even happy when she found out?"

"Honestly Emzy, I didn't stick around to really see. I was so furious at them. Furious they stopped looking," Katie said, her lisp coming out full force. It happened when she got riled up. "I knew you weren't dead. That probably doesn't mean a lot to you in retrospect, but I really didn't think you were."

"You didn't?" I asked, shocked.

"No. You have a mouth on you, you know. Everyone gives me such shit for the things that fly out of my mouth, but I'm only kick in the shins. You're a real kick in the balls when you let yourself be. I just knew that you'd give hell before you gave up. More than I would at least."

I suddenly remembered a crucial fact I had forgotten. I wasn't supposed to be the person taken. At first, I had a fleeting thought that, perhaps, they meant to take Katie, but once the money became an issue, that idea flew out the window. It did make me wonder how Katie would have handled it all.

"What happened to you?" Katie asked, completely halting her pacing. Staring at me with wide eyes.

"A lot," was all I could offer. I suppose if there was one other person I could talk to it about other than Naomi, it would be Katie, but I still didn't want to.

Katie rolled her eyes and plopped herself, cross-legged, right on the floor where she had stood.

"No secrets, yeah?" she pushed.

"This isn't a secret Katie, I just don't feel like talking about it," I pushed back. "I'll tell you about it in due time."

Her face fell, but she nodded her head.

"James didn't get out of bed for two whole weeks," Katie said. "I practically gave myself alcohol poisoning. Mum cleaned until her hands bled from the soap and Dad smoked enough cigars to support all of Cuba."

I kept a hold of her gaze. It felt weird being reminded that I wasn't the only one who had experienced pain. Sure, my family had all but given up on me, but they definitely experienced loss and hurt.

"Then after three weeks of nothing, mum and dad sat us down and told us you were dead. It didn't seem right. We held a small funeral service for you. Cook and Freddie came. Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike too. One of your teachers from college. But none of it seemed right. It wasn't until about two weeks later when I called your detective myself, I had been told they had no idea if you were dead or alive."

"They lied?" I asked, loudly. The adjoining door to mine and Naomi's rooms was still open and I heard the discussion from their room quiet at my voice.

"Mum's never given me a straight answer as to why," Katie said, looking ashamed. "We haven't really spoken since then. I called the detective every day for a month, but you have to understand, after two months of nothing, I had to face reality. Face the chance that you weren't alive, even if I thought you were."

"They gave up then, not you," I said, feeling the need to backtrack my anger again. Katie was shocking me left and right. She hadn't given up, not straight away.

"James didn't think you were dead either," Katie said, as if that would erase the pain of my parents lying about my own death. It didn't, but it helped a little. "He has this box under his bed. For every day you were gone, he'd rip out another photo from one of his lady magazines for you. Said you'd be in dire need for them when you returned. Fucking perv."

I couldn't help the giant smirk that took over my face at that. My family might have changed entirely, the previous dynamic squashed, but James was still the same little fucker he always was.

"James told me mum and dad want you to come to New York when you're finished here," Katie said.

My head snapped up at that.

"I want to go home," I said, firmly. Although, I knew home wouldn't feel like home. It was simply the next logical step.

"You and I will," Katie said. "James too probably. Dad won't be allowed to fly for another few weeks. But they want to see you first."

"Do they?" I snapped, unable to help it.

"Emily," Katie said just as sharply. "You know you need too."

"Obligations. Always fucking obligations. What about me? Doesn't my say matter? After all of this, I want to go home," I said, completely aware of how childish I sounded. I didn't care.

"Obviously," Katie said. "I just said we'll go home, they just want you to visit..."

"Doesn't what i've been through matter? Is it always about them?" I interrupted, feeling fire burn in my lungs from the anger. "Does mum even know? Can she even comprehend past her own pain to realize i've been through absolute SHIT?"

Katie sat up, looking aghast. I didn't often lose it in front of her. We might have never been best friends, but she always knew when I was about to blow. She either diffused it or ran away before I did blow, so she didn't often witness it.

"Nobody knows because you won't fucking talk about it!" She fired back.

"You want to know? You really want to know?" I yelled, hearing the voices from Naomi's room die completely. Katie didn't answer, merely stared at me in shock.

"I was stuck in a room with no human contact, Katie. For three fucking months, I didn't see one person. Did you even wonder how Naomi and I know each other? She was in the room next to me, and managed to talk me through it. Then it turned into a huge clusterfuck when I saw two innocent men get killed. We were drugged up, cut up, tied up, dragged through dirt, thrown into a hole, almost shot. We spent cold nights freezing our asses off, even colder days running from pyscho's. Then to top it ALL off, we witnessed an entire town off themselves. Not exactly a walk in the park, yeah?"

My throat was dry from yelling, my chest hurt from the exertion. I was breathing hard and the blanket had fallen off of my body. I saw the horrified looks of Naomi and Gina standing at the door. All three of them started at me in shock.

"I need a cigarette," I blurted out. I didn't smoke. At least not sober, but the undying need for it trumped everything right now.

Naomi left her mum's side and disappeared into her room, then reappeared with a pack of what I'm assuming was her mum's cigarettes.

"Let's go then," she said nodding toward the door.

I wordlessly followed her out the hotel room door, down the hallway and then down the staircase. There was a door leading to the outside at the bottom, which Naomi opened and propped with a rock. She pulled out two from the pack and handed one to me. She lit up hers, and flicked the lighter alive and held it so I could light my own.

I took a long, deep drag. The smoke burned my already sore throat, but it burned well. I let out a long breath, watching the smoke swirl in the cool night. I took another long drag and instantly felt the buzz of nicotine.

We didn't speak a word, the two of us. Just simply stood outside the hotel and smoked. After we stubbed out our first ones, Naomi instantly pulled out two more. I lit up gratefully, not ready to go back inside.

Around ten minutes had passed, and the cold was starting to get to me again. I threw the stub onto the ground and watched it simmer out on the concrete.

"Thanks," I said, turning to look at Naomi.

"I needed an excuse for one myself. Mum doesn't exactly approve of my habit, but she likes you. And that little outburst deserved it," Naomi said.

If the cold would have allowed it, I would have blushed.

"I don't know why I did that."

"No need to explain it to me," Naomi said, reopening the propped door and leading us inside. "I heard the entire conversation."

"Oh, right," I said, feeling my body heat up.

We walked up the stair case and back to the hotel rooms.

"Mum says we have to give our statements tomorrow," Naomi said, quietly.

"What?" I asked.

"We have to check out by eleven tomorrow morning, and then go to the station," Naomi said.

"Makes sense," I said. I knew they were simply allowing us time to recuperate at this hotel. I was actually infinitely happy about that. I was still tired, but the 30 hours of sleep had definitely done something. I'm not sure I would have survived a blow-by-blow of our kidnapping's with out the sleep.

Naomi pushed open the door to her room and Katie and Gina were sitting on the bed. Katie's eyes were red, and I instantly felt guilty.

"Katie, I..." I started.

"I'm here," Katie said, firmly. "I'm here to listen. Here for you. If I have to push your buttons to get you to open up, I will."

I immediately slid my glance to Gina. It sounded as if she had given her a little pep talk while Naomi and I were gone.

"It's nearly one in the morning, what do you say we all call it a night and hit the hay. Long day tomorrow," Gina said, eyeing Naomi and I.

Panic struck me. This would be the first night in a while that Naomi wasn't sleeping right next to me. I nodded my head and forced a small smile on my face. I had Katie, I reminded myself. She was no Naomi, but she was still my sister.

I instantly felt even stupider, especially when Naomi happily flopped herself on the bed in her room, snuggling under the covers. I was just being stupid. I could not become co-dependent on Naomi. Alright, who am I kidding, I already am co-dependent. I just needed to avoid becoming even more co-dependent.

We said our goodnights and went into my room, leaving the door ajar between the rooms. Katie and I slipped under the covers. The silence was deafening.

"Thank you for coming," I said, finally unable to handle it.

"Don't thank me. I had too. I'm sorry, for everything," she said back.

"Don't be sorry. You're naturally curious. I'm sorry I'm being so selfish."

"You're not selfish. You're suffering. Thank you for sharing."

"I'll share it all eventually. I promise. Thank you for..."

"For fucks sake, go to sleep!" I heard Naomi's voice yell from her room. I heard Gina hit the bed covers and mumble something about being polite.

Katie and I both giggled at our silliness. We really could have droned on for hours if allowed. After a few more minutes of silence, we quickly fell into sleep.

I was woken up by Gina the following morning. It was ten, and the detectives and police officers were waiting for us at the station. Marie was standing in the doorway of the adjoining rooms, with Naomi pacing behind her. Katie was drying her hair and I was left trying to wake the hell up.

My body ached, and I decided to skip a shower. No need, really. I took some pain medicine and picked at a bagel given to me by Katie.

"You need to eat. You're ridiculously thin," Katie said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. I was surprised, Katie always liked her curves. But then again, we were twins. Always compared. Me being thinner than her would inevitably get to her.

"Trust me, I don't like being all skin and bones," I said, forcing another bite into my mouth. That wasn't a lie. I didn't like the body I saw in the mirror. It wasn't mine. It was proof of this entire thing. Proof we'd suffered.

"That's what I keep telling Naomi," Gina said, already making a pot of coffee in the small coffee maker. "She's always wanted to lose a little bit, but I told her now she's lost too much."

"What? Why?" I stumbled out. "She has a great body."

Katie and Marie and most importantly Naomi didn't seem to hear me, but Gina froze on the spot. She didn't turn to face me, but from her profile I could see a smile reach her face. My face burned red. Jesus Emily, could you be any more gay?

"Who knows what really goes on in that head of hers," Gina merely offered, shaking her head. "I reckon you've gotten the closest to figuring it out. Or so she's told me."

"Being stuck with only each other for three months will do that," I said, trying to play it all down. Gina was being fishy. Fishing around in my head.

"Be that as it may, it still happened," Gina said and turned the coffee pot on, halting the subject.

"Are you two blabbering on about me?" Naomi said, poking her head through the door to shoot us a look.

"You're something we have in common, so yes," Gina fired back.

I glanced over at Naomi and was almost startled by what I saw. She was nervous as fuck. Anyone with eyes could see that, but there was something deeper. Total fear. It was the same fear I saw in her eyes when she was tied to the chair in the middle of that field when Perry had the knife in his hand. I swallowed hard.

Adjusted my pony tail, and trying to remain nonchalant, I walked over to the adjoining door and Marie moved out of my way.

"Alright?" I asked Naomi, breezing by her. My ears were completely focused on her answer, but I was trying not to bring attention to her.

"No," she said, bluntly.

"We both knew this was coming," I said, knowing what she was referring to. We knew we had to give a statement. "Maybe we can get this over with and sleep for another 30 hours."

"That would be lovely," she said. I could see she was practically gnawing off the inside of her cheek with her teeth. I brought my hand up and smoothed the side of her cheek.

"Stop," I said. Her eyes flit to mine and her jaw relaxed. Another role reversal. I felt strangely calm. I was nervous yes, but knowing Naomi was about to work herself into a fit helped calm me. It gave me a temporary distraction: calming HER down.

"Yeah," she said, rolling her head around a few times.

A cup of coffee and a ten minute car ride later we found ourselves back at the station we had been to originally. We were escorted in, and brought inside a room with a few couches. The five of were told to make ourselves comfortable and someone would be in with us shortly.

Katie and I were on one couch with Naomi, Gina and Marie on another. The clock inside the room ticked loudly through the silence overcoming the room. I was making myself breath through my nerves. Naomi was wringing her hands together, and actually, Gina was as well. They looked a pair, the two of them. Large worried eyes, nervous habits, slouched bodies.

Eventually the door to the room opened and in stepped two men along with Bradley. I was comforted by his familiar face. He was the face of our rescue, probably always would be. Even more than Marie. He was the man who didn't give up, despite being in the unknown.

"Hello, girls," he said. Then nodded toward the men accompanying him. "This is Officer Kevin Winters and Agent Douglas Harding. They offered to take your statements this morning."

Kevin looked calm and friendly, like Bradley, but Douglas looked a little bit harder around the edges.

"How were you involved?" Gina asked.

"I am with the Bristol police force, ma'am," Kevin responded. "I was working on Emily's case, and then joined up with these groups after our case didn't provide any leads."

"I was a detective on the case," Douglas replied shortly.

"Alright, so I figured since Kevin originally started with Emily's case and knows more about that scene, you could talk to him," Bradley said, looking at me. "Naomi, if you could go with Douglas..."

"We don't want to be separated," Naomi said, her voice harsh.

"Pardon my bluntness, but you're no longer in danger Miss Campbell," Douglas intervened.

"So?" she quipped.

"We need to take separate stories, to make sure they match," Douglas explained again.

"Of course they match! Are you mad?" she argued again, getting heated up. Which really meant she was getting more upset.

"Naomi, please try to understand how we have to work things," Bradley said, obviously picking up on how quickly she was getting riled up.

"Explain it to me then," she said.

Douglas sighed loudly. I instantly hated him.

"You will only need to give briefings on your separate accounts with us. Then you can be brought back together for a joint account if you wish."

"We do," Naomi snuffed.

Gina elbowed her in the stomach, but didn't seem that annoyed with Naomi. Most likely did it out of politeness to the officers. Katie jabbed me too, and sent a questioning look my way. A look I ignored.

"Can we get on with it?" Douglas asked, and I noticed he had a line of sweat on his forehead. What was his deal?

"Of course, I'm sure you have a busy day a head of you," Bradley said. He motioned for Naomi and I to follow them out of the room.

We walked down a long corridor and ended up in front of two rooms. Both had large doors with a small window at eye level on each of them. I could see a table and two chairs inside, a notepad and voice recorder lying on the table. I felt myself frown. This seemed more like a prison then a victim confessional.

I was lead into my room and managed to catch Naomi's terrified glance as she slipped into her room. She look scared me. To any normal person, she would seem melodramatic. But I knew Naomi, and I especially knew her in stressful situations. She didn't often freak out unless necessary.

I was left alone in the room for a few minutes. I sat down in the wooden chair at the table, and realized I could hear Naomi's footsteps in the room next to us. The walls were thin.

I shot up and softly knocked on the wall. Not to grab Naomi's attention, but to check the thinness. To my surprise the walls sounded hard. I glanced up and noticed a vent near the ceiling that was left open. Aah, that's what I was hearing.

I quickly shot my eyes around the room for a video camera and didn't see one. Then I quietly scooted the large oak table closer to the wall separating Naomi from myself. It was irrational and stupid, but it made me feel better.

Kevin entered the room shortly after. He had a file in his hands and was scanning through it. He looked up at the table and appeared confused.

"I moved it," I clarified for him.

"Ahh," he said nodding, setting the file down on the table. "Why?"

"Dunno," I shrugged.

He smiled politely and didn't question me further. He pulled out the chair and took a seat across from me, opening up the file. I heard the door in Naomi's room close, Douglas was in with her now.

"I'm going to start with a few basic questions," Kevin said. I nodded.

"Do you know where you were kept?"

"Marie knows," I answered.

"I don't mean location, I meant the building, can you describe it?" He asked.

I spent about five minutes talking about the white rooms, and exactly what went on in there, which admittedly and comparatively speaking, wasn't a lot, but he seemed interested.

Suddenly his phone rang.

"Winters speaking," he answered.

"What?" he said, pulling the phone away from his ear and squinting. Then he stood up. "Hello?"

He held the phone above his head and shook it around, bringing it back down to his ear.

"You there love?" He asked again, then huffed and hung up.

"Emily, would you mind if I just stepped out to call my wife and tell her when I can call her back. I get horrible reception in here," Kevin said. "She's about eight months pregnant and a worry wart."

"No, I don't mind," I shook my head. It would give me a minute to sort my thoughts. I had scanned a few of the questions Kevin planned on asking me from the list sitting on the file.

He left, and left his file sitting right in front of me. Naturally, I was curious enough for me to pull it over and begin leafing through it. Some arguing through the vent made me pause my movements.

"I told you I don't know where we were kept," Naomi said. She was talking loudly because I could hear her plain as day.

"Were you not paying attention on the drive back?" Douglas asked.

"I believe I was a bit preoccupied with my life," Naomi snapped. "Tosser..."

"Did you see the identities of anyone who kidnapped you?" Douglas asked.

I peered down at the sheet of paper. That question wasn't on Kevin's list. It seemed like an odd question to me. Everyone was dead.

"I think you should ask Marie that, she saw everybody's faces," Naomi answered, pointing out another good fact.

"Marie meddled in with something we all told her not too. Her and her group," Douglas huffed. "Did you do anything to taunt your captors?"

Another question not on Kevin's form.

"Isn't that an oxymoron? Taunt our captors?" Naomi quipped.

I almost had to roll my eyes. Typical.

Kevin walked back into the room and saw me listening. I did the stupid thing and played like I wasn't.

"Everything alright?" Kevin asked.

"I'm just listening to Naomi," I said, seeing no point in lying now.

"I didn't understand why Douglas was so insistent on separate questionings," Kevin said. Now that caught my attention.

"It's not protocol?"

"No, it is. But there are always exceptions. I would have considered you two one. Or at least let you two give your story together and then take separate accounts," Kevin said.

"He's not asking the same questions," I said, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with this entire situation.

"I imagine not. He doesn't really follow the rule book," Kevin said.

"Do you know him well?"

"No," he admitted. "He was working on his own stuff. Me on mine. Bradley tried to get him kicked off because he's a little strange, but he seemed to know what he was doing."

Prickles flew down my spine. Something wasn't right. At the same moment I heard Naomi get really loud with Douglas through the vent.

"What the fuck are you on about?" she said loudly.

I saw a genuine look of concern flash over Kevin's face. What ever was going on, he obviously wasn't a part of it.

"I simply asked a question," Douglas replied.

"Yeah, asking a girl who was kidnapped from her own fucking bed who she killed? How does that fit into your agenda?"

"What?" I heard Kevin ask, obviously more to himself. "Stay here Emily."

Kevin left the room and I froze in my seat. I heard him knock on the door and the door open.

"Done already?" Douglas asked.

"Not exactly. The vents are open, and I could hear you talking to Naomi. I just wanted to remind you that professionalism is highly regarded here and our reputa..."

His voice was abruptly cut off but a thunk, followed by a heavier thud. That's all it took. I flew out of my seat, out my own door and into the doorway of the room they were all in.

Kevin was knocked out cold on the ground, Douglas was holding his fist and Naomi looked like she was going to loose it.

"What's going on?" I heard someone from behind me ask. I turned to find a man I didn't recognize in uniform. He turned the corner and immediately moved over to Kevin. "Harding, explain yourself."

"Everyone's stupid. You're all so stupid," he called out, still holding his fist. "I had you trumped for months. Threw you off for months."

"HELP!" I called out into the empty corridor, unable to help my reflexes. We weren't in the middle of no where and I could call for help, you bet I would take advantage of it.

Douglas walked over and grabbed me out of the doorway, pulling me into the room. He shut the door, locked it and pulled out a gun.

Oh no.

The uniformed man standing over Kevin stood up, eyes wide.

"Harding, what is going on?" He asked.

"Isn't it clear? Doesn't anybody in this room having a fucking brain?" He barked out.

Suddenly everything clicked into place. The towns secrecy. The outside help it had. The long period of time we spent in that hell despite the leads everyone kept finding.

"You've been protecting this?" I breathed out.

Douglas laughed.

"And we have a winner! Thank fuck. I was about to start questioning humanity."

None of us had a response to that. Douglas turned to Naomi.

"Your fucking mother kept meddling. I could put off the police force AND the detectives, but I couldn't put her off. Mothers love and all that disgusting jazz. She ruined it. She distracted me from doing my job. Protecting that town. Protecting my wife. Does Erin ring any bells? Your finger prints were on the gun that shot her, Naomi. You."

"It was me!" I yelled out. I'm not sure where it came from, but it did. That uncanny need to protect Naomi.

"No, it wasn't," Douglas held firm on his stance.

"Erin told us about you," I said, trying to buy us seconds. We were in a fucking police station for sobbing out loud. Why didn't this other guy have a gun?

"No, she didn't," Douglas said, but I saw his stance waver for just a second and I pounced on it.

I ran over and kneed him in the groin. Hard. He went down like a sack of potatoes, but only for a second. He raised his gun up and aimed it at Naomi.

I leaped into her, knocking us straight into the ground. The shot fired and Naomi screamed. She screamed louder than I'd ever heard her scream.

I held us on the floor, eyes closed tight and the next few seconds ticked by like centuries. I heard the door burst open. I heard Douglas get lifted off the ground. I heard yelling and shouting and arguing. I felt arms pick Naomi and I up, and I felt us rushed out of the room.

Then just like that we were left out in the hallway. I watched as three men escorted a now handcuffed Douglas down the corridor, and Kevin was carried behind them.

In the next instance, I heard slamming. I turned to find Naomi furiously punching the plaster wall. Over and over and over. I managed to secure a grip on her arms, but she ripped them out and the action made me tumble against the wall and onto the floor.

Naomi froze and stared helplessly at me, then promptly burst into tears.

"Naomi," I said as I struggled to sit up. The fall hadn't really hurt, it merely stunned me for a second.

"No, don't touch me," she said, as I stood up toward her. "I just fucking hurt you. I hurt everyone. I killed that man's wife. Now i've hurt you..."

"You didn't hurt me," I assured, but keeping a few steps away from her. I didn't bother trying to tell her it wasn't her fault Erin was dead. It wasn't, it was self-defense, but it would probably be a long time before she believed that.

"I can't handle this. I can't. Why us? We're just two pieces in a fucked up game of chess. That's it, Emily. Two pieces. We aren't special, we aren't. So why us? I'm not fucking special, I don't, I don't, I can't think past this," She sobbed.

"You only have to be special to one other person for life to matter," I said, my brain racking which question to address first.

She looked up at me, with her blood-shot blue eyes. She tried to swallow but it only came out in another sob.

"You're special to me," I said, daring a step toward her.

"No, I'm not," she said.

"Yes, you are."

With that, I stepped forward and reached out for her arms. I tugged them out from her body and into mine. She gripped tight.

It was an awkward angle, given our height difference, but I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her in. She sobbed loudly and unabashedly. I felt my own tears well up at her raw cries.

Over Naomi's shoulder I saw Bradley, Marie, Gina and Katie burst around the corner and halt in their tracks. I shook my head, begging them for space. If only for a minute. They seemed to comply, as they stood there and watched.

"You're all I have," Naomi said, as she sniffed hard and let out another sob. "We've been stripped naked, you and I. Nobody understands."

"We'll get back on our feet again," I said, scared at how small she sounded.

"Everything scares me. Everything. Footsteps, breathing, clicking, everything. But IT scares me the most," she said.

"What does?"

"How much I need you," she whispered so softly I almost didn't hear her.

I didn't respond. In the middle of this fucking police station was definitely not the right place.

I just held her up the best my tiny frame would allow, rubbing the hairs on her neck. What she didn't know, and what she probably never would, if only to protect her, is that I was fucking terrified too.


	24. Chapter 24

Hello all, sorry for the delay. Holiday cheer = major time suckage. Holiday parties and events are so time consuming. Fun, but time consuming. Never the less, I also had a little twinge of writers block, so I switched things up a bit. Changed the format, took it a different direction than originally intended. But hey, I might go as far as to say there's a wee bit of fluff in it, so nooooo worries. It's just a major take on Naomi and Emily as a pair, and the start of something new. Break from the drama. Hope that's alright and hope you enjoy. Feedback is welcome. : ) I'm only imagining this story going on for a little bit longer (it's already gone on way longer than I intended), but you have my all until the end.

Gah, right, and I totally promise to be more thankful for your never endingly kind words in the reviews, as well as the loads of alerts and favorites. If I had time to, I'd reply personally to each and every one of you, but I figure you all would rather have a chapter. Am I right? : ) That being said, holy moly, you guys rock. I love it. And I appreciate you allllll.

Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda

Turning Slowly: Chapter 24

**Eight a.m**.

"Emily wake up! Gina is starting that House Hunters series again!" Katie said excitedly, waking me up from my sound sleep.

It had been five days since the Douglas incident, as I now referred to it. Every incident had a creepy calm face and a name to go with it. That's how I broke up the long train of treacherous events for myself, and for the police detectives who had properly (and safely) taken our statements later that day.

The four of us had been moved to a "safe house" of sorts. Bradley and his team said Douglas had "friends," and they needed to catch each and everyone of these "friends." Turns out this Douglas guy wasn't the smartest bulb in the box. He was the head of protecting Donald's town, and extremely good at outside protection, but horrible at personal privacy. Apparently his apartment was riddled with leads to others like him, and it was only a matter of time before all of them were caught.

In the mean time, Naomi and I were asked to lay low for a week or so. No news would be shared about our rescue until Bradley was confident every last mole was found. They had originally only intended for Naomi and I to be tucked away in hiding, but the monumental fit Katie threw at being separated from me was enough for them to let Gina and her tag along. Although, not with out strict rules.

We were essentially locked up in a small condo in the middle of a large complex with fantastic security. Cameras, multiple guards, you name it. Plus, Bradley's station had someone outside in a nondescript car at all hours. We weren't allowed to leave and we weren't allowed to contact anyone. Katie was allowed to send off an email to our parents to let them know she landed safely, and Gina was allowed to contact her employer to ask for more vacation, but that was it.

We were given food cards and other essentials, anything we asked for really. We would put our orders into the security downstairs and sure enough, it was dropped off within a few hours by one of them later. The place was small, but lovely. Akin to the hotel, it was a lavishly decorated place with a large television and endless cable. That being said, the television was our only means of entertainment, hence Katie's excitement at this incredibly lame show her and Gina had hooked onto.

"I'm sleeping," I grumbled and rolled over, trying to block out the light with my pillow. There was one room in the condo, and a pull out couch in the living room. The four of us traded off sleeping in the living room. Gina and Naomi shared the pull out last night and I guess Gina was wide awake, despite the early hour.

"Fuck off, you slept for 12 hours last night," Katie said, sounding strained. "Plus I like arguing with you about the houses. Gina always agrees with me, and that's no fun."

I should mention Katie had strangely latched onto Gina over the past few days. It was strange because Katie doesn't get along with adults. She tends to think they all have their heads up their bums and doesn't give them the time of day. But with Gina it was different. The two of them gossiped over the slim magazine selection in the condo, watched trashy television and chatted endlessly until the wee hours of the morning.

"Argue with Naomi," I mumbled, smiling under my pillow. Katie and Naomi were another story. They tolerated each other at best. They didn't NOT like each other, but they were so wildly different, it was hard for them to find a common place. But Katie will always be Katie. She likes a good verbal rumble with anyone. Arguing is her strength. She's good with her words and has an attitude to match. So does Naomi. They might not realize it, but they're a odd-ball match made in heaven.

"I can't insult her like I can insult you," Katie pushed again. I groaned realizing I wasn't going to win this fight and removed the pillow from my face.

"And why is that?" I asked, not pleased.

"You're blood, you'll forgive me," she answered cheekily before skipping out into the living room.

I kicked the covers off of my body and sat up begrudgingly. I stood up and cracked my back as I redid my ponytail on my head.

I walked out into the living room and found Gina and Katie sitting on one side of the pull out, highly tuned into the quietly blaring television show. Naomi was seemingly passed out on the other side.

"Morning love, pull up a chair," Gina said, barely tearing her eyes from the screen.

I looked around the small living room. The only sitting place it had was the couch.

"Just push Naomi over," Gina said again, quickly glancing at my hesitation.

"Mum, it's early," Naomi whined from under the mountain of covers.

"These episodes are only on for two straight hour starting at eight, then it's just the stupid soaps," Katie said, defending Gina.

"Forgive me for not caring," Naomi quipped. I bit my lip to keep a smile from coming through. I had been learning all these little quirks about Naomi. Quirks that didn't have a chance to come out over the past three months. I felt like I was re-learning everything about her, and I loved it. Quirk number 32: Naomi's not a morning person.

"Emily's up," Gina said.

Naomi peeked her head out from the covers and peered over at me, squinting her sleepy blue eyes. She blinked hard a few times and then scooted closer to her mum, nudging the covers up with her legs.

"Well, come on, hop in," she said.

I happily obliged, sliding my body in next to hers under the mountain of blankets. I was immediately enveloped in the warmth that was a sleeping Naomi. I propped a pillow behind my head and snuggled under the covers, not ignoring the fact that my body was pressed tightly against Naomi's in the narrow couch bed. Four people aren't meant to share something like this.

House Hunters was a show on one of the American channels on the extended cable lists. It involved people looking at and eventually purchasing one of three homes in their price range. It bored me endlessly, but as Katie mentioned, we never agreed on which house they should buy, so at least that was entertaining.

"Mark and I are like two peas in a pod. We agree on everything, I'm hoping the house hunting is the same," the girl from the couple featured on this episode said excitedly.

"Oh for fucks sake," Naomi grumbled. I didn't even had to look at her to see her roll her eyes.

"Shut up," Katie hushed, entranced with the episode.

"He is my other half. I couldn't breath with out him. I am so excited to buy our first house because it'll be a binding contract, even more than our marriage!" the girl squealed to the camera again.

"This is ridiculous," Naomi said again. "People should always have their own opinions. Their own thoughts."

"I don't think that's what she means," Gina said.

I felt Naomi tense beside me.

"I hate the loss of individuality in relationships. Just because you're together, or have been through something or are related, people assume you have the same personality and likes and dislikes. I mean really..." Naomi said. I could feel her building up into a launching tirade.

Alright, so Naomi's a little bit of an exaggerator when she's irritated and sleepy.

"...and then the next thing you know people buy you one gift. ONE. Even though I hate the idea of gift exchanges, my point still stands. One gift for one personality, because it's easier. Then everybody goes 'wah wah wah, blah blah blah," and you don't have to..."

And she's a bit of a whiner.

"...and don't even get me started on trying to figure out co-dependent people. It's disgusting and completely important to..."

I held back a mix between a laugh and a sigh. Holy moly, when she gets rolling, she gets rolling. Note to self, do not wake up Naomi before she intends to wake up. Or at the very least, don't try to engage her in conversation.

"Naomi, how do you make pancakes," I asked blandly, earning the attention from all three people sitting to my left.

"So my point is...wait what?" she asked, finally halting her speech and turning to look at me, obviously confused.

I had used this tactic on Katie more times then I cared to admit. It was a no fail solution for tantrum throwers. Throw their tantrum off with an ass-backwards question.

"Pancakes," I said again.

Naomi shook her head, and thankfully seemed to shake her rant right out with it.

"What about pancakes?" she asked, still confused.

I heard a gasp from Katie.

"You cheeky bitch, you used the Fitch control on her," she accused.

"Guilty," I offered.

"What?" I heard Gina and Naomi asked in-sync.

"Nothing," Katie and I replied in-sync. No way was I going to give away my tactic to Naomi. Especially if her temper flared like this on a more frequent basis.

Naomi stared at me intently, then let a small, almost invisible smile reach her lips. She settled back into her pillow and closed her eyes.

**Eleven a.m.**

I stepped out of a scalding hot shower. It was the absolute best thing about this condo. I took a shower every morning and every night. I think my subconscious pushed me to do it because if the shower was hot enough, it might wash away everything that had happened. Plus, not having a proper shower for over three months made it that much better.

I had been in there for at least 30 minutes, and the only reason I shut off the water is because I knew Naomi was waiting to hop in after me. She, not surprisingly, felt the same. Washing everything away. Finding a sliver of comfort underneath the hot water.

I have slowly felt the two of us recuperate this week. Slowly, but surely. We both still had our moments of panic, and doubt that we weren't actually safe, but the small safety condo was working. Helping. Doing something.

I had realized Naomi was handling this worse than I was. I had automatically assumed I was the weaker one, but I actually was surprised to find I wasn't. Years of battling an unforgiving mother and a blindingly mean sister back when Katie was a total bitch had really made me resilient. Naomi on the other hand was blind sided by the hurt. Gina, god love the woman, had created a house of care for the fragile blonde. Despite all the immediate loss in Naomi's life, it was quickly shown to me that she had never really experienced pain.

She always expected it. Had created a large defense, bitchy exterior and shoddy front to block it away, but it never really came. She was scared of it, because she had never experienced it. Although, now she had. Full and true. She'd experience a kind of pain and fear that people can only imagine. The first in her life, and she was completely wretched by it.

That being said, she was still doing better. Long showers, long conversations with Gina, and even longer ones with me had helped her. She had finally accepted that fear and pain are there, you don't need to run from it. You just need to learn to brace it when it comes. She's grown a lot in this past week.

"Took you long enough," Naomi said as I stepped out the bathroom, clad only in a towel. Her eyes grew wide and she turned around so fast, she ran into the wall across from her. I couldn't help the small burst of laughter that erupted out of me.

"Smooth," I said, trying to down play the butterflies in my stomach. Those fucking butterflies.

They hit me when I least expected it. I had been no more than a few feet away from Naomi for seven long days. Gone through a bonding and binding experience with her, but these past few days in the condo have only intensified it.

The butterflies started two days ago. I had been cooking, and stupidly burned the bacon. Naomi shot me such a look of understanding care and pity, it made my stomach flop. She walked up behind me and showed me how to recook a few new strips and not burn them. The butterflies blew up in my stomach at her front pressed into my back, and they haven't stopped since. I grew more and more nervous with each passing hour, wondering how the fuck I was to get this under control.

"Oh shut up," she said, covering her face and coincidentally her eyes.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I just need my hot shower," she said and moved her arm out to feel her way into the bathroom.

I turned to walk away but heard her call me back.

"What?" I asked, not having heard her properly.

"Can you open the door once I'm in?" she asked. "Not all the way, just a crack."

"The fan is working just fine, you don't have to worry about dying a death of shower steam," I said flippantly, not quite understanding her request.

"Just do it, yeah?" she said, and shut the door quietly.

I frowned, looking at the offending white door separating us.

"Once when she was showering as a child a bird flew into the bathroom," Gina said, scaring the shit out of me. I jumped and almost lost the grip on my towel wrapped around my torso.

"A bird?" I asked stupidly.

"Yup, a bird. It flew around the bathroom and scared the living daylights out of her. Hasn't showered with the door shut since," Gina said.

"Huh," I said, finding myself fighting a smile. Naomi's a scardy-cat. Big ole' vicious Naomi who kicked someone in the gonads, shot someone, hit someone over the head with a rod and saved me numerous times, was a scardy-cat. Who knew?

**One p.m.**

We had just received a call from Bradley and his team. They had taken four other men into custody. Four other men who had helped aid the secrecy of this town. All four of them tried to escape, and all four of them had guns with only one bullet in them. It sent shivers down all of our spines. Bradley ensured us that this nightmare was coming to an end. We had three more days in this condo before he would let us out. Three more days for them to completely wipe the town, and everything associated with it, clean from this country. Which ironically, is exactly what Donald wanted.

I hated that.

"What's your deal?" Naomi asked, walking into the kitchen where I was preparing sandwiches for all of us. Gina and Katie were, once again, glued to the television. Watching some reality TV show, arguing about who is the bitchiest.

"What?"

"You. You've been a right crank pot since we got the phone call from the station," Naomi said. She walked up and poked my rib for emphasis. I squirmed away.

I glanced at her and sighed. No point in lying. As usual.

"I hate that everyone got their way, yet we're stuck with the after shock," I said, abandoning the food and turning to face Naomi.

"Speak english," she said.

"Everyone who was associated with that town is dead. Well, almost everyone. People responsible for the insanity and paranoia of hundreds of nameless teens out there. Responsible for the insanity and paranoia of us. They got what they want and we're left to pick up the pieces of our lives."

"Ahh," Naomi hummed to herself, finally understanding me.

"I hate it."

"Let's find an upside," Naomi said, and began pacing in front of me in the small kitchen space. Her brought her hand up to her mouth and appeared to be in deep thought. I entertained her and pretended I was thinking too.

"We might have horrible memories, but we can still eat good food. You can't do that dead," Naomi offered, pausing her pacing to look at me.

I shook my head. That didn't help. She nodded and continued pacing.

"We can still sleep in warm beds. They're sleeping in coffins," she said.

"Doesn't change it."

"Since we're alive, we will receive the sympathy, care and attention from all of the United Kingdom. They're dead, and everyone will hate them."

I bit my tongue. That helped a little, but not enough.

Naomi walked right up to me and straight into my personal bubble. I lifted my head to look at her and she wiped a smudge of what I'm assuming was mustard off of my cheek with her thumb, and licked it. I swallowed hard. Fucking butterflies.

"We still have the opportunity to live. They don't," Naomi said, staring straight into my eyes. "We win."

With that she turned around and walked away, glancing over her shoulder.

"By the way, I hate mustard, so don't put any on my sandwich," she said and walked away. My eyes were glued to a particular part of her anatomy

So, maybe she was right. Maybe somewhere in my stubborn, stubborn brain it knew Naomi was right. We did win.

**Three p.m.**

I was getting a little bit stir crazy in this apartment. I was surprised to find Naomi and I the ones who were losing it. Gina and Katie acted as if their life's ambition was to spend it tucked away in a tiny condo, wasting away in front of the television. Naomi and I were the ones who had spent three months in an even smaller space. Then again, that's probably why we were getting antsy.

"You two are making me dizzy," Gina said randomly in the afternoon.

It startled me and I jumped. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Calm down Ems," she said, with out tearing her eyes from the magazine she was flipping through. I was still so easily startled. She understood it, but it amused her.

It was then I realized that I had been humming and pacing to myself in the bedroom just off the living room and Naomi had been pacing around the kitchen reading the days paper back to front. That was another odd quirk of Naomi's. She read magazines and newspapers back to front. She couldn't give me an answer as to why, she just simply brushed it off as something she HAD to do. I didn't understand that, but it amused me.

"Sorry," I said. I walked into the small living room and put my hands on my hips looking around. We needed an activity. Now. "Does this place have any cards?"

"Cards? As in a deck of cards?" Katie asked, looking at me like i'd lost my marbles.

"Yes. We need to do something, I'm going fucking nuts," I blurted out, blushed, then looked at Gina. "Sorry..."

"You're right," Gina said, shaking her head and rubbing her thighs. She stood up and glanced around the condo. "We need some vodka, some cards and some food."

"Mum," Naomi admonished, her attention fully off her newspaper and onto us. Her voice was a mix between disapproval and amusement. She was clearly no stranger to this sort of behavior from her mum.

"You two need to celebrate. That's something we haven't done! We haven't celebrated your return!"

"Hey that's true," Katie said, standing up to join Gina. I looked at Naomi and we both rolled our eyes. Two against two. The way it's been for days.

"See? Two against one, we win," Gina said, looking pleased.

"Where's the logic in that?" Naomi argued, joining us in the living room.

"You and Emily are one vote," Gina explained.

"Uh...okay. Where's the logic in that?" Naomi said again.

"I'm sorry, we're you planning on actually disagreeing with one another?" Gina asked, eyebrow raised.

I glanced at Naomi who shot me a look, a look I couldn't place. I crossed my arms awkwardly in front of me, Naomi's co-dependency rant earlier in the day coming back to me. Naomi crossed her arms in from of her at the same time. Once realizing our mimic, we both huffed and uncrossed out arms flustered. Then completely halted out of surprise.

"My point exactly," Gina conceded. She reached for the phone to contact the security guards, dialing the number.

"We're not each other's opinion slaves," Naomi quipped.

"I didn't say you were, love," Gina said, and hushed us with her finger as she connected on the line.

"We're not," Naomi grumbled.

"We're just on the same frequency," I argued helplessly at Gina, whose back was now to us and wasn't paying even the slightest bit of attention.

Katie burst out laughing and picked her magazine.

"Not our fault," I grumbled now.

I dug my toe into the carpet and felt it crack. I dared a peek up at Naomi who was also staring hard into the ground.

"You two are fucking hopeless," Katie said.

Mine and Naomi's eyes met and it was only a second before smiles took over our faces and we let out a few giggles. The tension in the room broke.

Yeah, we were fucking hopeless.

**Six p.m.**

A few hours later we had been fed and were well on our way to being drunk. We were also in a rousing game of poker, seeing as that happened to be the only game we all knew how to play, especially intoxicated. We were betting with lima beans we found in a can in a cabinet.

"I'll see your four lima beans and raise you three," Naomi said triumphantly at Katie who had upped the ante for the entire table just minutes before. Katie let out an exasperated noise.

"You can't possibly have a better hand than me," Katie said, her face angry.

"Poker face," I said to Katie. She's actually brilliant at poker, but fucking gave herself away half the time. I always tried to tell her, if she could just keep that giant trap of a mouth on her shut, she would kill everyone. I immediately felt a wave of something hit me. Remorse? Unexplained fear? I don't know. I had multiple flashes of me flapping my own jaw at our captors, risking mine and Naomi's life. Maybe it was remorse and fear. And guilt. I guess a loud mouth is genetic in the Fitch line.

Katie stuck her tongue out at me and flipped over the third card, raising the ante again. I wished I could see her cards. I didn't know if she was winding Naomi up out of boredom, or if she was really going to win.

"I'm out," I said, throwing my cards on the table. I had nothing.

"Me too," Gina said, slugging back a swig directly from the vodka bottle. A felt myself smile. I can't believe Naomi grew up with this. She was so completely different from my mum, it was ridiculous.

"What do you have?" Katie asked once Naomi stayed in.

"You first," Naomi said, smirk on her face.

"No. You." Katie said, punctuating her words. Naomi rolled her eyes and put her cards down.

"Straight, read em and weep," Naomi said, placing her cards down. A smug look on her face.

"Hah!" Katie burst out. "Four of a kind. All queen's baby. YES!"

Katie began scooping up all of her lima beans, a pleased look on her face. Naomi threw her cards on the table, sulked and grabbed the bottle from Gina. She took a few gulps from the bottle, visibly winced and wiped her mouth.

"Awe, don't be a sore loser Naomi," Katie said.

"S'okay, I've lost all my beans to you," Naomi said, indicating to the empty pile in front of her. "Excuse for me to drink."

Naomi caught my gaze and winked as she threw back another gulp. Oh boy, this was going to be a long night.

**Nine p.m.**

Naomi and Katie had officially talked themselves into slumber. They were both chatty drunks. They opened up and purged themselves of all things on their minds.

Katie talked about this guy she was dating right when I was taken, and how he was such a dick about it that she dumped him. Which, she regrets, if only because the "sex was fucking amazing, yeah?"

Naomi spoke about how right before she was taken, she had gotten into the one and only fight she had with her best friend Effy. She had spoken about Effy lightly, but I knew how much Naomi cared for her. Just the tone she used when she referenced her told you everything. I found myself oddly jealous. Not over the friendship, but over their history.

Nevertheless, the two of them were passed out on the sofa bed, which had never been put back today. Gina was in the bathroom, washing up and I was cleaning the kitchen.

"My daughter can be a bit daft, but she knows herself better than she lets on," Gina said as the entered the kitchen. I jumped and almost dropped the cup I was washing. Fucking hell Emily get a grip.

"What?" I asked, momentarily sidetracked by my insta-panic.

"Naomi is incredibly self aware, despite the facade she puts out there."

"Really?" I asked, not sure where Gina was taking this.

"She knows what she wants, what she needs. She just goes around pretending she doesn't. Plays stupid. It's hurt her in the past and I hope it won't continue to hurt her in the future."

"Me either," I said slowly.

"She's different with you though."

I washed the last cup and placed it on the drying rack, not risking to turn around and face Gina. My face would give myself away.

"I think through all of this bullshit you two have been blessed. Or rather, she's been blessed. Because now she's been tossed with another human being who, not only can she stand, which is a rarity for her, but who gets her. This nightmare of a situation forced her to let down her guard."

"I don't truly know her," I said, almost forlornly. If anything was apparent from Naomi's rants about her life, it was that I still didn't know a lot about her. I knew her in a bubble, in one situation. Life moves on. Naomi will move on.

"But really, you do. I've seen the way you two dance around each other. You're a well-oiled machine. There is none of that hubaloo over who does what, to whom and why. You've already got that figured out. You work together and against each other all at the same time. Your past has allowed for that."

"Those three months are an isolated event. The real world is waiting," I said.

"So is Naomi," Gina said mystically, and turned to start gathering wrappers from the floor. "And so are you."

**Ten p.m.**

I had just finished up brushing my teeth when I saw Gina emerge from the bedroom. She had led a stumbling, sleepy and still-drunk Naomi from the couch bed into the bedroom. It was their night to have the real bed, and I was happy I was drunk because the sofa bed wasn't comfortable at all.

"I've left some extra pillows for you in there if you want them," Gina said.

I glanced over to the couch, failing to see any pillows.

"In with Naomi," Gina clarified, walking over to the small table in the kitchen and pulling out her crossword puzzle.

"It's your night," I blurted out before I could help it.

"Well, I figure Katie and I won't wake you up with our television addiction tomorrow. Plus I'm better at finishing crosswords while intoxicated, I'll be up for a while," Gina explained, already holding up her unfinished crossword puzzle.

I let out a laugh.

"Now that I can believe," I said. "Are you sure? Katie snores."

"So do I," Gina said, obviously shutting down the discussion.

I walked over to her at the table and kissed her temple. She wasn't my mum, and I normally wasn't this affectionate with my own, but Gina had done wonders for me this week. And she had raised Naomi. It was the least I could do.

Walking into the bedroom, I shut the door and let my eyes adjust to the dark. I slipped out of my socks and slid into the bed next to Naomi.

I curled myself up so my back was to her, but let myself lay close enough to feel her heat. I tucked a pillow under my head and between my legs, letting my body relax.

I was nearly asleep when I felt Naomi shift over to me. I felt her front come into contact with my back, barely touching me, but aligning our bodies perfectly. I felt her breath on my neck.

"I want to work on us," she breathed out. "What ever that means."

I felt my body freeze. My heart beat fast.

"Is this drunk Naomi?" I finally asked after my brain calmed down.

"I want to see where this goes," she said, ignoring my question. "Even if it scares the shit out of me."

I bit my lip in attempts to hide my smile, forcing my heart to slow down, trying to keep my breathing even.

"Okay," I said, my voice shaking.

"Okay?"

"Okay," I finalized and reached around to grab her hand, pulling it around my stomach. She pressed a warm kiss into the nape of my neck and I could feel her pulse racing. Both heartbeats frantic. Both anxious. Because we're going to work on us, what ever that meant.

**Eight a.m.**

24 hours had passed since I truly realized how much I still had a lot to learn about Naomi. The biggest problem was, the more I realized I didn't know about her, the more I grew to adore her.

Well, it was a problem a few hours ago, but now 24 hours later, Naomi was in my bed, wide awake and had no regrets over the words she whispered into my ear last night.

Now what?


	25. Chapter 25

**Wow. Total. Beezy. I'm just going to say that I had to take a last minute work detour out of the country (alright, two hours north to Canada, but still out of the country) and I had to pay for every damn minute of internet in the hotel for the three week duration. That, plus the holidays just sort of helped me lose track of time. I check the email account for this thing, and was immediately racked with guilt. Forgive me? Give this chapter a chance? I'm back at least. Maybe I'll write something more, as this is coming to a close here soon? Is that an incentive? Eh? (and this one is pretty long... : ) )**

**By the way, I love you all. You made this girl, who had a very shitty weekend, smile when she checked her mail this morning. You're all too awesome for words. Really. Really, really.**

**Don't own Skins, yadda yadda**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 25**

"Now boarding all passengers for Flight 1527 to John F. Kennedy Airport, boarding all remaining passengers," A voice over the intercom said.

Katie and I stood up our cramped seats in the airport terminal, threw our bags over our shoulders and got in line.

We had left the safe house yesterday, and were flying to New York extremely last minute. Dad had insisted upon it apparently. Both parents were quite upset we hadn't been in contact, but then again, we hadn't been allowed to actually tell them the entire truth. Admit we had been housed in a safety house, with no means of contact.

Bradley had ensured, for the moment, that we were in the clear. Then warned us about impending media. Word had slipped Naomi and I had been found and the station had been hounded.

That, with the insistence of my dad, had convinced Katie to immediately book us tickets to New York. Naomi and Gina were going to travel to Scotland to visit some extended family. There was a screaming need to get out of England for a few days, let the bustle pass. All four of us felt it, and all four of us caved.

I was thrilled to get away, and not have to deal with the press for a week, but I was feeling a sick nausea creep in. It meant I would be away from Naomi, both physically and emotionally for the first time in fucking ages. I wanted to disagree, I wanted to say no, but I couldn't. The reality was, we couldn't be in our safe house forever. We had to leave our bubble.

Plus, we were due back in Birmingham in a week to give our proper statements. With Bradley and other specified personnel. Completely ensured and promised safety. I would be able to see Naomi then.

"Emily," A voice said to me, breaking my concentration.

"What?" I asked.

"Hand the kind man your boarding ticket," Katie said, giving me an odd look.

"Oh sorry, here," I said, and the airport worker scanned my pass and handed it back.

We walked down the long hall into the cramped airplane. We had booked it so last minute we were sitting in the very middle seats, in the middle section of the bulkhead. Arguably the worst seats in the plane. I was not looking forward to the flight.

We put tucked our bags away and sat down, buckling up and settling in. I leaned my head back on the headrest, and closed my eyes.

"You miss her, huh, despite it all?" Katie said.

"Yeah," I said, letting out a sigh, remembering the last big conversation I had with Naomi.

"I know because she's apart of you now. And if you miss her even an inkling of how much I missed you when you were gone, then I feel bad for you," Katie said, with a hint of something to her voice. Sadness. It's hard for me to remember Katie had gone through her own pain. I reached my hand out and grabbed hers, letting my memory go again.

!

"_We have one day left," Naomi said from outside the bathroom, forcing my eyes open. _

_I had been taking a bath, relishing in the warm heat, letting my brain go. _

_Naomi and I had officially made something of this...thing we had going on. Not in the way most would assume. Not physically. But we had both awkwardly admitted that there was more to the relationship than just friendship, and we wanted to see where it went. _

_Problem was, both of us were fucking terrified to make a move. I think it was that all consuming paralyzing fear of losing each other. We had sat comfortably for two days in the knowledge that we at least both wanted this to go somewhere. Now, it looked like Naomi was going to be the first to cave out of the comfort zone we had provided ourselves._

"_I know," I said, staring at the closed bathroom door. I rolled my eyes. "You can come in."_

"_I don't think I can," Naomi said quietly. _

"_Why not?" I asked. _

"_Because," she said, her voice strained. _

_I had an itch on my stomach, which I scratched, and then Naomi's reasoning hit me full force. Duh. I was naked, in a bathtub. I felt the corners of my mouth tug. _

"_Come on," I cooed her in. _

"_Emily," she said, sounding exasperated. _

"_Seriously, come in," I said, getting just as exasperated. She could be well stubborn when she wanted to be. "We need to talk." _

"_Let me grab something," she said, and I heard her walk away. Seconds later she returned and the bathroom door swung open. It revealed a pajama clad Naomi...with a sleep cover over her eyes. I burst out with laughter. _

"_Shut up," she said, her own smile threatening to come through. "We need to talk. You're naked in a tub. I don't trust you." _

"_Oh, it's me you don't trust?" I said, raising an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see with those ridiculous eye covers on her face. _

"_No...it's me," she said quietly, and suddenly the seriousness of the conversation managed to creep back in. _

"_So, we have one day," I repeated again, as she sat down on the toilet seat, tucking her legs under her. _

"_Katie's taking you to New York, I think my mum and I are going to Scotland," she filled in. _

"_Right, then we're back here in a week," I said. _

"_What would you say if I made a sort of radical suggestion?" Naomi asked her voice shaking. It instantly worried me. _

_Even though we hadn't directly addressed anything, we were more than entirely comfortable with each other. We'd spent the last two days never leaving sight of one another. Only to use the restroom and shower did we separate. Touches lingered longer, I could feel her staring at me, and she clearly knew I had been staring back. It was an awkward limbo, but we were oddly comfortable in it. Now though, I was worried. _

"_What would that be?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level. _

"_What if I asked us to wait," Naomi said. _

"_Wait for what?" I asked, the emotion starting to creep into my voice. _

"_Just a week," Naomi rushed out, and it immediately became clear what she was talking about. She wanted to wait before we did anything. Made any moves. _

"_Why?" I asked. _

"_I want to make sure that I can be without you," Naomi said. _

"_Why would you want that, if you wanted to be with me at all?" I asked, feeling myself get defensive. Had I just been dreaming this comfortable bubble? Was Naomi regretting things days later? _

"_I DO!" Naomi shouted, shocking me. I jumped in the tub and she let out a deep sigh, sliding herself to the floor. She pulled off the ridiculous eye cover and stared straight into my eyes. I was immediately comforted by the baby blue color I was so familiar with. _

"_I do Ems. Shit. I just...I can't tell you how often i've fought relationships because I don't want to lose myself. It scares me, scares the absolute shit out of me how much I need you. I need to make sure that I can function just as well with out you, as I can with you. Does that make sense?" She clarified, a begging tone sliding into her voice. _

_And, to my great displeasure, I actually DID understand what she meant. Or at least I could understand what she meant from her point of view. The way I saw it, we needed each other. Why fight it? It would be more effort to fight it then let it happen. But Naomi is far more independent than me. Feels a greater need to prove things to herself than I do. I understood, but that didn't mean I had to like it. _

"_Yeah," I answered in leu of more comforting words. I could feel myself getting irrationally upset. I had gotten my hopes up. I wasn't recuperated enough emotionally for this. _

"_Emily, please, I need you to understand," Naomi pleaded again. _

"_I do understand Naomi," I said, probably a bit more harshly than intended. I wasn't intentionally being rude. Or trying to be rude._

"_Then stop talking at me. Talk to me," she said, quietly. _

_I closed my eyes and ducked my body further under the water, sucking in a breath. _

"_What happens when one week turns into another week? Then another?" I asked, the thought suddenly occurring to me with a sickening snap. _

"_It won't." _

"_And how are you so positive?" _

"_I just AM," she said, her voice raising at the last word. _

_Silence filled the bathroom. Gina and Katie's loud voices died in the living room. _

"_Okay," I said, regretting pushing Naomi that far. _

_Naomi got up and walked to the door, looking over her shoulder as she opened it. _

"_I am just as sure as you Emily. I just need a little more tweaking," she said and closed the door. _

!

"Emily, Emily," I heard Katie's voice saw. My brain slowly worked itself back to consciousness and I became immediately aware of a knot in my head. I lifted my head quickly only to feel a sharp pain on the top of my head.

"Oye bitch, watch it!" Katie's angry voice now said as she rubbed her cheek.

"Shit, sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my own head. My cheeks flushed as I realized we had gotten the attention of everyone around us

"We're here, you tart," Katie snapped, clearly still irritated. Then her eyes met mine and her face softened. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" I asked, confused.

"You should see how scared you get every time someone even so much as raises their voice near you," Katie explained, a tone of awe in her voice.

"Automatic reaction I suppose," I said, shrugging. After spending some close time with me, Katie took my surprising new quirks with stride. I was fucking grateful. My parents would be another story.

"It's alright, come on. We've got a taxi waiting for us," Katie explained.

I reached up and pulled out my one suitcase from the overheard compartment. Katie and I had done some last minute shopping, just so I would have some actual clothes to wear. I itched to be back in my own things, but I knew that was still a while off.

We walked through customs and were soon in the taxi on the way to the hospital where my dad was still bunking up at. My mum had emailed Katie explaining he was mere weeks away from being released. James would be flying back home with us and I would get two weeks of bliss at home. Without my parents. Hopefully without any foreboding press. And hopefully with or near Naomi, who will have gotten her head straightened out. My chest ached with out her. It was quite pathetic.

"You ready?" Katie asked me from across the back seat of the taxi.

"That sounds like such a stupid question doesn't it?" I asked rhetorically. "Am I ready to see my parents three months after my abduction?"

"You're not coming back into the best circumstances," Katie said, looking embarrassed.

"Did mum really give up that easily?" I asked, looking Katie square in the eyes. I know I was repeating myself at this point, but I couldn't shake the hurt.

"I think with her, the thought of possibly losing a child clouded her judgement. Instead of coping, she withdrew, and it became easier to assume you were dead and move on rather than keep up her hope. She's not strong."

I tipped my head back and forth, taking that into consideration. I can believe that, I suppose. I can believe that somebody reaches such a point of devastation that hope isn't even on their horizon anymore. It doesn't make it any better though, to be on the receiving end of that lost hope.

"Do you think she's upset I'm back?" I asked, feeling tears sting my eyes at one of the biggest unasked questions lingering in my mind.

"Emily," Katie admonished, unbuckling herself and scooting over to the middle seat, earning a glare from the taxi driver. She flipped him off. "You seriously don't think that."

"I seriously can't help but think that," I admitted. "You weren't there Katie. You were in the middle of the country side, tied up to a chair with two masked men who are holding up a video camera. Two masked men who were taunting you and trying to force you into submission. They showed me a recording of a news blip mum and dad did. Mum said she was sure I was dead. She was sure who ever took me had done it for money, and had killed me. She was bitter. Bitter and angry. Not sad and desperate, like a mother should be," I said, swallowing loudly, surprised I had managed to keep my tears in check.

I felt Katie slack next to me, taking in my words. I still hadn't told her much about my kidnapping. This is how I assumed I would tell her. In little blips. I couldn't do it all at once, mostly because the entire reel of that nightmare was still playing in such a vicious loop it was hard to distinguish event from event. Naomi always helped with that, but she wasn't here now.

"No, I wasn't there," Katie said slowly and reached out a hand, laying it softly on my jean clad thigh. She didn't say anything after that, just left her hand there. It was all I needed.

!

*Ding*

The elevator doors opened revealing a very bright looking hospital corridor. The corridor was mostly empty, aside from a nurse in dark, purple scrubs staring intently at a clip board. Katie led me down the hall to my right and we stopped in front of a door, and my breath caught in my throat.

There they were. My mum, dad and brother.

My dad was sitting up in bed, scarfing down what looked to be like soup. My mum was reading a book off the side of his bed and James was lost in his Game Boy console. My family. Exactly as I remembered them. They hadn't changed one bit and here I was, a whole new Emily.

"Girls," a deep gruff voice said, breaking my trance, and my three long-lost family members turned their familiar eyes to stare at me in shock. My dad was bearing a huge grin, his usual grin. "Emily love, come ere' and give me a hug."

I couldn't help but let his accent fall on my ears again as his huge arms stretched out to greet me. I was surprised to find he looked so healthy. His medical condition had been made so stark to me, but he looked as healthy as a horse. I think I might have looked crappier than he did.

I fell into his warm hug, and hug he did. He hugged the shit out of me. I soon felt arms wrap around my stomach and a face mush into my back. I immediately recognized the lanky form as my stupid, little brother. My smile grew.

"Aaaah, the Fitch family together again!" My dad yelled loudly into the room, sending his monitor thing into a frenzy for a few seconds. He gripped me hard one more time before releasing me. I barely got two inches away when he pulled me back in. "Nope, not done yet."

I was surprised. Surprisingly happy, but confused. This is exactly how I would have imagined a reunion with my dad and James, but after everything, I had sort of assumed awkwardness.

"Hi dad," I said into the cloth shoulder of his hospital gown.

He let me go, but James held on. He simply adjusted himself so he was glued to my right side. It strangely reminded me of Katie when she first saw me. Not letting me out of her sight for a minute. It was awkwardly adorable. My shit-hole 13 year old brother actually cared about me.

I looked up and met the eyes of my mum.

She, for one, did not look better for the wear. Her hair was tied up in a messy knot on her head. Her eyes were dark and drawn. She looked five years older since the last time I saw her. I couldn't help but feel a familiar twinge of guilt at the thought that I was at least something of a contributing factor to that. Then I felt myself harden. Wait a minute. All I did was fight my way through a situation, when she thought I was dead.

"Emily," she breathed out.

"Hi mum," I said awkwardly. I could practically feel Katie gesturing wildly from behind me. Obviously trying to command my mum to do something.

"You're...," my mum said stopping and swallowing. "You're so thin."

"Yeah, and I'm alive," I blurted out before I could stop myself. I felt James stiffen next to me, and saw my dad lower his eyes, but my mum held mine steady.

"I think I'm in shock," she said, as if that excused everything.

"Mum, for christ sake," Katie said behind me exasperated.

"Katie, love," my dad said to her.

"Don't do this," I heard James say. I carefully backed away from him.

"No you all stop!" I said into the room. My voice echoed off the walls. "I was gone. For three months, yeah? I was taken from my bed in the middle of the night. Now I'm here. I'm alive. I'm alright. I . Survived. I'd appreciate no awkwardness from my own fucking family, alright?"

The silence that fell across the five of us was deafening. I turned to walk away, but a voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

"No, you stop," my mum's voice said. I could hear the crack in her voice. My body responded in accord. I stopped walking, but kept my back to her. "How would you cope if you thought one of us was dead. Was sure of it, then all of a sudden you hear that we're back, three months later. When everything's changed?"

I dropped my head and felt a tear drop out of my eye.

"I wouldn't have assumed anyone was dead until I saw a body," I said, shuddering at the memory of all the bodies I saw myself. It made me nauseous. I needed out of this room. "I'll be back."

With that I took off. I half expected Katie to come after me, but thankfully she didn't. She was either giving me a minute of space or finally truly understood me, and realized when I shouldn't be bothered.

I found a small bathroom on the same floor and locked myself inside. I remembered the small pay-as-you-go mobile Katie had bought us while we were in the states, so I could call Naomi if I got up the courage. We didn't leave things so well, and it would take some courage to call her.

!

"_Alright girls, this is it," Gina said, throwing the last dishrag into the sink and wiping her hands on her pants. "Time to scoot on out of this here jail cell er, fuck." _

_I almost had to laugh. Gina was pretty forthright about what had happened with us, but she was careful not to be blatantly rude about it. _

"_It's fine, mum," Naomi said from where she had finished sweeping. _

_Gina had also pressed us all to clean this place up and down. Show our appreciation for getting to bunk here for free. _

_(To which Naomi quipped that we should leave it a shit hole simply because we've lived in worse. Gina had promptly whacked her upside the head.) _

"_Okay, okay," Gina said, raising her hands above her head and letting out a sigh. She had been doing that heavily ever since she caught wind that something had happened between Naomi and I. _

_Nothing had really happened. That was the problem. Naomi wasn't running anywhere, but she had her back turned to me for the first time in three months and I fucking hated it. She had lost the sparkle in her eyes. She was just a dull form of herself. It made my heart ache and my temper flair simultaneously. _

"_Katie, come help me bring the suitcases outside, I'm sure the cabs are waiting," Gina said, making a dreadfully obvious attempt at giving Naomi and I a minute to ourselves. _

_Soon the front door shut and Naomi rolled her eyes so extravagantly, I thought they might fall straight out of her skull. _

_Then she looked suddenly sheepish. She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a slip of paper. _

"_Katie said she's got you a pay-as-you-go-mobile-phone-thingy-ma-gig. This is my cell phone number, if you need anything," she said, handing it over. _

_I hesitated. My temper on one shoulder and my aching heart on another. Eventually one won out. _

"_I thought you said you just need more tweaking? Wasn't that code for time" I asked, keeping my voice level, but the look of shock that rippled through Naomi's eyes told me it hit exactly where I had unintentionally intended. _

"_I just want seven days. And not even completely apart," she said, waving the piece of paper with her number on it. _

"_Naomi," I said, feeling my throat tighten up. With my anger released, the sadness crept in. Funny how that never fails to happen. One of life's great constants. _

"_What?" she asked. _

"_I'm just scared," I said. _

"_I'm scared too. It's why I need time." _

"_I'm scared of your time." _

"_I'm scared of you." _

"_You're scared of me?" I said, shock filling my voice as a took a few steps back. I watched Naomi's face scrunch up in frustration. _

"_That came out wrong, shit," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Not you, not Emily, the idea of Emily." _

"_What?" I cried out, getting just as frustrated. She was talking herself in circles at this point. _

_Suddenly the gap between us closed as she stood mere inches away from me. _

"_Do you know how hard I want to slam you up against this refrigerator right now and find out how fucking amazing I keep thinking kissing you would be? Do you really understand that?" she asked, eyes wide and desperate. _

_I couldn't come up with an answer. _

"_Do you really understand that my heart rate simultaneously speeds up and slows down when I'm with you? You calm me down and wind me up." _

_I swallowed hard. _

"_Do you understand that ever since that first night we talked in those fucking shiny rooms, then again when I saw your petrified face through those dog cages, I just knew I wouldn't be able to get away? I can't get away." _

"_So you need to get away while you still can," I said, letting out a breath I hadn't been aware I had been holding. Naomi stepped away from me, and I immediately missed her body heat. I missed our connection. Our connection that was wavering dangerously in the wind. _

"_I'm not 'getting away' from anything, I'm taking a breath before I dive in," she said, clearing her throat and retaking her awkward stance against the kitchen counter again. _

"_Dive into my mess?" _

"_Our mess," she said sharply. "And yes, something like that." _

_The door swung open quickly revealing a huffy puffing pair that were our sister and mother, respectively. I was infinitely glad they weren't a minute sooner. The tension in the air was thick enough to knock over an elephant. _

"_Cabs are here," Gina said, blowing warm air into her hands and waving us out with her arms._

_We were led down the stairs outside onto the curb. A bustling curb, come to find. It was hard to find a spot to stand in a group with everybody walking and breezing past us. _

"_So we're back in nine days for that testimony. Take two, right girls?" Gina said, winking at us both. I forced a small smile. _

"_Have fun in Scotland," I said. Gina pulled me into a rough hug, planting a kiss on my cheek. _

"_Take care Emily, I will be seeing you," she said, planting an extra kiss on my cheek for good measure. Her and Katie embraced, and I rolled my eyes. Those two had a very, very strange connection. _

_I started at Naomi and watched her hold her ground. We were both incredibly stubborn, and if I could ever find out how to break through that last piece of ice around her heart, the energy between us would be unstoppable. A sudden thought occurred to me with that thought and I leaned forward, lighting touching my lips to Naomi's cheek. _

"_We're not a fucking mess," I whispered into her ear, backed up and threw myself into the cab before I even saw her face. A bewildered Katie quickly followed. _

_!_

I slightly regretted doing that, only because at this very moment I wanted to dial the Naomi's digits Katie had ended up grabbing for me. Cheeky bitch. Since when did she become such a good sister?

I unfolded and refolded the sheet of paper what seemed like a million times before I finally managed to dial the sodden numbers, wait for the long-distance connection and hold my breath.

"Hi, you've reached Naomi, if you leave a message at the beep, I'll check it and decide if I feel like answering it, bye..."

"Emily," a voice said, scaring the absolute shit out of me.

"Fucks sake!" I yelled and the phone slipped out of my hand and onto the floor, breaking into a few different pieces. Great. That's fucking great. I turned to find my mum staring, pale-faced and shocked, at me.

"Sorry," I said, putting a hand to my beating heart. "I can't stop jumping. Reckon that'll be around for a while."

My mum completely let herself into the bathroom, shut it and leaned against the door.

"You know why I assumed you were dead?" my mum asked.

I shook my head.

"You've always been the stronger twin," she said, and I felt a ripple of shock run through me.

"No...I haven't..." I said, slowly.

"You're more resilient that Katie ever could be. Everyone knows that."

"That's not what you said," I couldn't help but snap back. Her words had been on a constant loop in my head for days when I was in trouble. I knew them. Felt them.

"Because I just knew, I knew that if you didn't come back right away, you were dead. Because you would fight Emily, you would have fought."

"Listen to you! You're still talking as if I'm dead. You're still speaking in the past tense. I'm HERE mum! I'm fucking alive and I did fight. I fought through hell. Hell you can't even imagine. Fear you can't even fathom. So why am I standing here in a dingy hospital bathroom listening to your bullshit?" I yelled out at her until my voice was hoarse. The temper versus hurt with my mum was slightly more direct than it had been with Naomi. The temper burned.

"Can I hug you?" my mum asked out of nowhere.

"What?" I asked, forcing myself to swallow to sooth my throat.

"Can I? Can I just hug you? Make sure you're real?" she asked again, and I cracked. It realized, my mum and I would probably never see eye to eye on this. We had gone through the same thing, yet experienced two entirely separate things. But the look, the look of utter despair on her face busted me.

I collapsed into her arms and for the first time in 18 years, I heard my mum start sobbing.

!

"So tell me about this Naomi girl, love," my dad asked me suddenly.

It had taken mum several hours to calm down. The two of us had gone to the hotel for her to shower and regroup. She wouldn't let me leave her side, not even for her to shower. I had to pop myself on the bathroom counter. My family, for being all different, were scarily similar in this situation. Clingier than a dryer sheet.

We still had a lot of pent of emotion to work out, mum and I, but we were both clearly exhausted. I understood she just needed to get used to me. Just as much as I needed to readjust back into my old life.

We all slept in a pile on the king bed in mum's room that night and spent the entire next day set up in the hospital room, eating chinese takeout and playing stupid card games. But it was nice. Slowly mending the three month tear between us all. Acting like a happy family.

"She's just the girl who was with me the whole time practically," I said, slurping a noodle into my mouth.

"Just the girl," Katie mocked incredulously. I stuck my tongue out at her tone. "She's practically Emily's left arm now."

"Really?" my mum asked, surprised. Her eyebrows raised, and I fought an eye roll.

My mum had never been truly sound with the whole gay thing, ever. Any girl mentioned, it was automatically assumed she was my girlfriend. Nobody ever was, but in this case...

Ugh, Katie needed to shut up. Pronto.

"Well we're close obviously. But you spend three months with only each other to talk to, then a week and a half hanging onto your life, it'll happen to anybody," I said, desperate to shrug it off. Naomi and I weren't currently on the best terms. There was no use in describing us at the minute.

"Best friends?" My mum pushed.

"Something like that," I answered, shrugging.

"Emily," my mum said in such a serious tone, my head snapped up to meet hers. "You've changed a lot in those three months, but so have I."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"She means she approves your lesbian stuff now, Ems! You can bring home your girlfriends!" James said enthusiastically, earning a hard cuff to the head from Katie. "What? I get fucking sick and tired of JJ, Freddie and Cook hanging around all the time."

"Language," my mum admonished before looking back at me. "I mean, I'm not going to be parading a billboard sign declaring your sexuality, but...i'd rather have you alive and who you are. Then dead with my disproval."

This time, and arguably for the first time in a very long time with my mum, a genuine smile hit my face. I felt instantly elated. It was a natural high, that immediately coursed through my veins. My mum took her first step toward approval. Approval of my taboo sexuality that would need to be addressed should the beautiful blonde who's always on my mind pull her head out of her bum.

The elation depressed a bit at that thought. Fucking Naomi. She's a stubborn cow but I was...truly and madly in love with that cow.

Fuck me.

I was in so much trouble.

!

Katie, James and I walked the three minute walk to our hotel down from the hospital. I was starting to feel like a part of the family again. The banter was flying, James was being shoved like a rag doll between Katie and I. We had premium cable waiting for us in the room. Things could be worse, I suppose, far worse.

Katie let us into the room her and I were sharing for the week. It was even nicer than the hotel Naomi and I stayed at when we were first found. I had really forgotten how much money my family had. I guess it's ultimately true. You really don't appreciate what you've got until you've lost it. How cheesy.

"Messages? What?" Katie said to herself, as we threw our bags down on the beds. She walked over the phone and pushed the flashing red button and connecting with the front desk. I watched her face contort quickly before hanging up the phone.

"That was Gina, she sounded really worried. I couldn't hear what she said, the reception was shitty," Katie said, her voice adopting a tone I knew all to well. One laced with subtle fear.

"Naomi," I said flying over to my bag and pulling out the slip of paper with her number on it. Katie had mirrored my movements pulling out her notebook with Gina's number inside of it. James watched us like a tennis match. We both flew over to the phone.

"Let me call Gina back before we jump to..." Katie tried arguing with me, but I had already switched gears and was out the room, down the stairs.

Something happened. Something had to have happened. Gina wouldn't have called otherwise. My feet carried me into the lobby of the hotel, and I darted up to the front desk. Whoa. Deja vu.

"Do you have a phone? My sisters using the one in my room and it's an emergency," I asked.

"Yes ma'am, here you go," she said, looking worried and handing me a handheld.

I didn't even bother asking if I could make a long-distance call and dialed Naomi's number again.

"Hello, you've reached Naomi..."

I hung up the phone and hung my head in defeat. My heart was racing, but Naomi still had her phone off. After she gave me her number. Encouraged me to call. Too many emotions were swelling up inside of me.

I walked over the elevator, not fussed climbing six flights of stairs after that. I wanted to get up to the room fast to see what Gina had called about. The doors shut and I bounced my foot on the floor. Nervous energy flooding my system. Fuck, Naomi better be okay. Why in the world did Gina call? What was going on?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Six agonizing floors later the doors dinged open. I lifted my head and my heart stopped.

There, standing straight in front of my hotel door was Naomi and Katie. Both of their heads turned to look at me. Katie raised her arms up, like she was irritated.

"Next time? Cool your heels. This," Katie said, gesturing to Naomi. "Is why Gina called."

With that she opened and closed the door to the room. Which was thrown open by a jaw-agaped James, then quickly shut again by Katie. Leaving Naomi in the hallway and my completely stunned self standing on the elevator, who's doors had yet to shut.

Just then, the doors quietly slid shut, and I threw my arm out in the middle to stop their closure. The doors crept open again and Naomi was standing just outside the elevator this time.

"You're alright," she breathed out.

"And you're alright," I said, feeling my heart rate slow and race even faster. Shit, she was right about that.

"I thought..." she continued, breathless, as if she had ran here. "Something had happened to you. I got your voice message, and there was a sharp yell and more noise, then silence. I freaked. I drained my savings accounts and bought a ticket over here. Took fucking forever. Hospital staff were being real fuckers about letting out information. Something about HIPAA violations or some crap. Anyways, been running around this god forsaken city like a loon looking for you. Then I FINALLY found your parents."

"You talked to my parents?" I asked dumbly, feeling my body slowly numb up at Naomi's revelation. She had just flown across the Atlantic because she thought I was in trouble. The doors started to slide shut, and this time Naomi stuck her hand out, blocking their path.

"Yeah, and they led me here," she said, with a small shrug.

"You're here," I managed to spit out, still in shock.

"I am," she said, a small, very light smile gracing her features.

"You flew across the Atlantic because you thought I was in trouble? Drained your savings account?"

A flush took over her face and she stared down at her shoes. The elevator doors started to slide shut again. I whacked them open, annoyed.

"That, and I realized something," she said, bringing her gaze back up to meet mine.

"What's that?" I huffed out, finally resorting to holding the doors open with my arm stretched out in front of me.

"Something that only took me from the safe house till two streets over to realize," Naomi said, biting her lip. "We aren't a mess. We just are."

I felt myself frown in confusion.

"We just are because this?" Naomi said, reaching out and scooping the tip of her finger underneath my loose shirt, sending warm shots of feeling through my legs. "This just is. Always has been, always will be."

I couldn't do anything. I was still frozen in shock.

"Say something," she said, looking suddenly forlorn and worried.

"I've got something better," I said and gripped both of her wrists pulling her body into mine, letting the elevator doors shut behind us.

Her lips crashed into mine, and her body crashed me into the elevator wall even harder. I could barely register this was actually happening before Naomi let out a soft moan and I realized I was pulling furiously at her blonde locks. My hands had already lost themselves in her hair.

Her hands were furiously grasping at my hips, pushing me further against the elevator wall. Teeth crashed and tongues could barely meet in the rushed kiss. My lungs burned for a breath, but I didn't want to break away. Couldn't break away.

*Ding*

That noise managed to filter itself into the foggy haze Naomi had kissed into my brain. Our sloppy, rushed, but extravagantly addicting kiss broke when I peered over her shoulder and saw the startled looks of a few older people waiting outside the doors.

"Fucks sake, I'm not done yet," Naomi huffed, turned around and quickly hit floor number 26, then floor number 1. The elevator doors closed and she turned to me with a lopsided smile, pressing her body into mine.

"Slower this time," I said, still breathing hard. I wasn't sure my body could take any more of that electric shock. I still wasn't entirely convinced it had happened.

"This is dangerous," she said, capturing my lips softly in hers, drawing in a breath, then letting them go, exhaling her breath, practically into my mouth. I shuddered.

"It's why I said slower," I said and watched a smile tugged at the corner of Naomi's lips.

"Right, then I believe we've got 23 more floors to practice this slow thing," Naomi said.

She pressed her lips into mine, slowly, agonizingly, I almost forgot to reciprocate.

"This was worth it," I mumbled into the kiss, knowing Naomi would catch my drift. She didn't even bother responding. Simply squeezed my hips and took my breath away again. Fucking finally.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Whoohooo another chapter. In a much better time frame don't you think? : )**

**And you guys fucking blow me away with your responses. I can't believe you missed my story this much. I actually want to go back and reread most of your reviews here soon because I can't possible begin to think what you guys like about this story so much (This comment is mostly sarcastic, but I really am quite curious, lol).**

**That being said, please keep being awesome. I love it.**

**Skins isn't mine, yadda, yadda**

**Turning Slowly: Chapter 26**

The day arrived much faster than I was comfortable with. The day Naomi and I were set to sit in a guarded room, with specified officers, and give our tale of our grim adventure.

We were already in a squad car. We had been picked up from the airport specifically and taken to the station.

I was already scared out of my wits. Our rescue was known all over the country, internationally in-fact.

I didn't blame anyone for their curiosity. Had I been watching the evening news and caught wind of a group of people who had kidnapped loads of teenagers, held them for ransom, all to fund their own utopia? I would be curious too. I would be especially curious if I found out everyone involved was either dead or in captivity, aside from two young innocent girls who had figured everything out.

"_Emily, yours and Naomi's flight leaves about an hour after Katie and James, now I want you to make sure..." _

"_I know mum," I said, fighting an eye roll. _

_She had gone into super protective mode. I know it was out of guilt. I know something inside of her snapped this last week with me back in the picture. _

_I was also very wary of it. I had always been the invisible twin. The daughter who was pushed off to the side for everyone else. Now though, it was as if I had a huge light shining directly on me. I realized no attention was better than any at all in this scenario. _

_But I wasn't about to argue with it now. It felt good, really good to finally be noticed by my parents. Even if it faded, right now, it was nice. _

"_I'll keep her rowdiness in check Miss Fitch," Naomi piped up from the seat beside me in the taxi waiting to pull off to the airport. _

_Naomi. Oh, Naomi. The girl had flown all the way from Scotland to New York, on her own dime, all because she misinterpreted a phone call. _

_Well, that, and she keeps insisting she felt a large grip in her stomach when she was away from me. It would be a problem, if I didn't feel exactly the same way. I wonder if this will ever fade, this constant need to be with other. I'm sure it will. I'm sure it's just messy residue from our experience, but I was fucking happy it was mutual. _

_Naomi and I had literally not left each others sides the entire time she's been here. I think it annoyed my mum, who wanted to spend some uncharacteristic alone time with me, but she seemed to get it. I think she noticed my anxiousness, and tendency to stare at my phone every five seconds when she tried to take me out for a quick lunch. Even if she didn't understand it, she let it be. Maybe this time apart, and this experience for her, really had changed her for the better. _

_I think my family also innately understood there was something more between Naomi and I. Normally, my mum is quite strict about partners sharing a bed in her presence, but she let Naomi and I share her bed while she slept on the pull-out couch. She didn't question when we followed each other into the bathroom. She didn't slip a peep when we would go outside the room to be alone for hours. _

_I had to give Katie credit. She was working her ass off to make sure things continued to go smoothly for me. She thwacked James upside the head if any innuendo came out of his mouth, redirected my mum when she got that glint in her eyes, and gave Naomi a stern talking to about hurting me. _

_To Naomi's credit, things had been at a wonderful, wonderful standstill. One that I was completely okay with. Her return had shocked the shit out of me, and her elevator kiss had knocked me completely senseless. Once we realized we should vacate the elevator, we moved into the corridor on the top floor of the hotel and continued kissing. Just kissing. It was slow, it was warm and it was fucking, fucking fabulous. _

_Words can't describe it. _

_I had spent numerous days pressed up against Naomi's body in different situaions, but nothing had compared to that. Nothing even came close. My stomach tingled and my back arched into her, as she spent what felt like hours sliding her lips over mine. Her tongue teasing me. _

_It didn't go much farther than that. Both of our heads were to much in the clouds. _

_I've been told, by friends in various relationships, that an emotional tie makes everything that much better. I had either always forced myself to be attracted to people I emotionally got along with, or couldn't find an emotional tie with people I was attracted to. I had sort of understood it, but had never believed it. Until now. _

_Half of what was rather fucking wonderful about it all was the fact that while I was kissing Naomi, I could feel her. Literally, metaphorically, mentally, physically, hypothetically, how ever you want to put it. I could feel her finally letting me in. I could feel myself finally GIVING in. Our personalities, emotional stability, terrible common experience and sparking attraction melded. _

_Kissing was all we could handle. _

_We hadn't done much since. Katie got us ripped off tequila one night after she squished her tits together enough for the bartender to forget we were underaged in America. That night we had spent a good deal of time floppily and sloppily making out against the counter in the bathroom. _

_There had also been an incident in the laundry room. _

_But other than that, it was more about just being. Being with each other, out of danger, out of the public eye, in our comfort zone. Understanding how to be together outside of the only world we had known for the last three months. _

"_I trust you will, Naomi," my mum said, pressing one last kiss into my head. The fifth one. Bidding our goodbyes, my mum finally allowed the taxi to pull away. _

_In no time we had arrived at the airport. We checked in, dinked around in the gift shops and made our way to our gate. _

_We were standing in line, Naomi pressed, as discretely as she could be, into my back. We heard a cough to our right. _

_I turned my head to see a young couple, only slightly older than us looking inquisitively. _

"_I beg our pardon, but...are you Naomi and Emily?" the girl asked, her accent giving her location away. She was from England just as we were. _

_My head whipped around to look at Naomi, the dumbfounded look on her face proved I hadn't heard this girl wrong. _

"_We are," I managed to say for the both of us. "Who's asking?" _

"_Your faces are all over the news. Are you really those two? Are you really the surviving pair from that disaster?" she asked, her voice getting louder, earning the attention from waiting flyers around us. _

"_Yes, two in the same," Naomi said. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but were exhausted and are dreading this flight, so could you possibly keep your voice down?" _

_I recognized that tone. That was Naomi's "don't fuck with me tone." I had heard it enough in the time I had known her. _

_Luckily the girl got it and left us alone. _

_But we both knew that was only the beginning. _

"Were here girls," the officer driving the car informed us. We had pulled up behind the station. Neither of us had missed the hoards of photographers out in the front area. Waiting for us to leave the station, waiting to see our faces.

The statements went rather quickly. Thankfully. Naomi and I refused to do them separately, and Bradley seemed to have expected that. There were four other people in the room, doing random things in regards to our statement, but we had been assured everything was status quo.

The thing I was most nervous about was that we had been informed they had some news for us. Some more information they had found.

I didn't know if I wanted anymore information. I didn't know if I could handle it.

Naomi and I were sat back in the room we had originally been escorted into the first time we had tried giving statements. The room we had been accompanied in by Gina and Katie. This room held a lot of unwanted memories. I would be thrilled never to come back to this sodden station.

After a few minutes, Bradley entered the room with two other officers I recognized vaguely.

"Hi you two," Bradley said, and I caught how tired he looked. I felt somewhat pained at the realization that our discovery had meant a boatload of work for him.

The three of them sat down on the couch across from ours.

"This is Stanley and Guy," Bradley said, pointing to each respective officer. I actually really liked that he referred to everyone by their first names. I had a feeling he did it intentionally. To ease our minds and tension. The two men nodded in our direction.

"So, what's this all about?" Naomi asked casually, though I knew it was all a facade. Her clenching and unclenching fist resting by my thigh told me a different story.

"While you two were taking some time to yourselves, we have been busy at work," the Stanley guy said. "We stumbled across some in-depth notebooks on any and every action in the town."

"Notebooks?" Naomi asked.

"It had been said that computer documents couldn't be trusted. We found these notebooks stashed in a safe inside one of the houses."

"Jesus," Naomi breathed out, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"We found some interesting revelations," Bradley said, slowly, gauging out reactions.

"And what are those?" I asked, slowly, copying his verbal speed.

"You had told us in your statement, Emily, that you were aware you had been mistakenly kidnapped," Bradley started.

I nodded, swallowing heavily. That was a hard fact to always have looming in the back of my head.

"At first, we thought there might have been a connection to your family, but there was actually none at all. You were, quite literally, accidentally taken. It was arguably the dumbest mistake in the entire shenanigan, and their worst. It's what started the chain of events."

"Like you guys realized it wasn't about money? That the teenagers didn't need to come from money?" I asked, finding myself confused.

"No, I meant from within. These journals were daily, detailed accounts of each and every thing that happened. And I mean everything. Even to what food was served. The second you entered the picture was when everything started to fall apart."

"What?" Naomi asked.

"Emily, you are a short girl with red hair who drives a small silver car, am I wrong?" Guy asked from his place on the other side of Bradley.

"I did," I said, then stopped and corrected myself. "I mean I do, I am."

"There is another girl. One that the group had been following for a while, her name was Elizabeth Fresno. She is a short girl with strawberry-blonde hair, who drives the same exact care you do," Guy said.

"And has the same initials," I said, feeling a shock roll up my spine. How ironic. My car even has an "EF (U)" sticker my mates had jokingly bought for me for my 18th birthday that was located on the back bumper of my car.

"Do you remember if you went to a grocery market at all straight before you were taken?" Bradley asked.

I frown in concentration. I couldn't remember going to the food market. Then I realized I had gone into London with my friend JJ the weekend before I had been taken. We had spent a stupid amount of time in this grocery store trying to find something to eat.

"I did in London," I said. Bradley nodded. Naomi turned to look at me, probably thinking the same thing I was. We were in the same city only days before we were both taken.

"Were you wearing a blue shirt?" he asked.

"I have no idea," I said, not able to remember back that far. "Why?"

"According to these books, Elizabeth Fresno was apparently seen entering a food market in East London. A small girl, who fit the description to a tee, a girl with her initials marked on the back of her car. Skip ahead a few journals, and you find that the girl who ended up being taken was an Emily Fitch. Not just any teenager Emily Fitch, the daughter of the newly publicized and newly rich father, Robert Fitch."

"Holy fuck," I said as the puzzles slid into place. I had been mistaken for this Elizabeth Fresno girl. A girl who resembled me enough, had the same fucking ironic initials, had decided not to go to the food mart that fateful day. Instead, I stupidly meandered on it, unsuspectingly and marched myself into this situation. I could feel my body start to shake.

"Are you saying that Emily was in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Naomi asked, incredulously.

"From what we can tell in the journals, that looks to be the case," Bradley said, looking genuinely sorry.

"That's it? That's what the huge mistake was all along?" I found myself asking this time. I felt Naomi's pinky finger slid up my thigh where her hand had been resting. It provided an inch of warmth, but my emotions were getting the best of me.

"That's not all, there was another discovery made," Stanley said, looking nervous.

"Yeah? Out with it?" Naomi said, sounding just as nervous.

"The man who had apparently tracked Emily back to Bristol was the man who tracked you as well. Elizabeth Fresno had been followed for a few weeks. She came from an average income family who live outside of London. The idiot who actually carried through that whole kidnap was the same idiot who started your tracking."

"I'm sorry, tracking?" I said, picking up on the word.

"Their word, not mine," Stanley said. "Anyways, it looked to us that you, Naomi, were in the same food market as Emily that weekend. You were with your mother, and caught the attention of the guy looking for Elizabeth, well, Emily."

"According to these journals, every person kidnapped was tracked for a few weeks to make sure nothing slipped up, nothing bad happened, which is why Stanley keeps calling the chum who got you, Emily, a total idiot. They had a flawless system and this guy managed to screw it all up," Guy offered.

"I'm getting really confused," Naomi said, scrunching up her face and rubbing her forehead.

"I'm sorry, were getting ahead of ourselves," Bradley cut in, taking control.

"A man, whose name we aren't quite sure of, went by the nickname of Raid. He was a newly hired kidnapper, who apparently had a glitzy but dirty past with the law. He looked perfect on paper, but was the dumbest person in this whole thing. He was sent to track down Elizabeth, and mistook you, Emily, for her. You were in the same food mart as Naomi that day, what ever that day was. Raid then took notice of Naomi and tracked her for only a few short days before deciding to take her as well."

"What?" I asked, my body freezing.

"The journals specified Naomi's life pretty accurately. Flighty, single mother who was gone a lot. Average income. Only a few friends. Room on the bottom floor of the house. You get the picture. Naomi turned out to be a perfect person."

"So what you're saying," I started, but had to stop because my breath caught in my throat. I swallowed and tried again. "So what you're really trying to say is that because I decided to go into a particular food mart at a particular time, I am technically responsible for both the wrong kidnapping of myself and Naomi's kidnapping as well?"

The room fell silent for a minute. Naomi's hand slid off my thigh. My heart clenched.

"It's not your fault, Emily, you have to know that," Bradley finally said, when no one else offered any words.

I couldn't look at Naomi. I could barely even stand touching her. This was all my fault. Guilt wracked my body. Almost physically fucked with it. I could feel myself start shaking harder.

A fucking lame weekend trip to London had caused all of this. I had started the nasty chain of events. Me.

I felt like a pair of walls were closing in on me. I did the only thing my mind was telling me to do. The first solo and instinctual gut feeling I had had, and I ran with it.

Literally.

Out of the room, down the corridor, out the back door and into the rainy streets of Birmingham. I ran and ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore.

My body ached, and my chest hurt too much to think. Which I think was my subconscious plan all along.

I walked around mindlessly for another half an hour. Too numb to feel anything, too numb to do much more. Eventually I got a taxi to take me back to the hotel my mum had booked Naomi and I to stay in after our statements.

It had to have been at least an hour since I left the station. I was hoping with all my might that Naomi was still there. I had every intention to call and tell them I was alright, but I wanted a moment alone.

But it was to no avail. I went to check into the hotel, only to find someone already had,

I trudged myself up the stairs, room key card in hand. Ironically, as mad as I was at myself and how disgusted I was at the situation, knowing that Naomi was probably in that hotel room helped. Little by little, step by step.

I barely had my room key into the door before it flew open, revealing a very distraught looking Naomi.

"Jesus fucking christ on a cracker Emily," Naomi practically yelled. "What the actual FUCK were you thinking?"

To say I cowered was an understatement. I wasn't emotionally prepared for a verbal slaughtering from Naomi, least of all people, and I wanted to slink away.

She caught me though, read through me like a book and pounced on it. Her long fingers wrapped themselves around my arm and tugged me into the room.

"Oh no you don't, you're not running away again," she said, forcefully and shut the door after her, leaning against it. Blocking my path.

Her eyes blazed into mine, and more guilt erupted through my system. Behind the anger I could see real, legitimate fear. The same fear I would have felt if Naomi had take off on me like that in a strange city after all of this.

I just keep fucking up.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Do you have any idea how scared I just was? Please don't do that to me again," she said, practically pleading with me.

It always scared me how much I needed her, and now it scared me how much she needed me right back. Someone depended on me now.

"I just...I...I couldn't take it," I said, swallowing the tears threatening to come out. My brain had been spinning at one hundred miles per hour, and now that it was calming down, my emotions were creeping back in. And I was properly upset.

"Couldn't take what?" Naomi asked, and it struck me that she had absolutely no idea what I was upset about. Or at least she didn't get it. She wasn't mad...or upset. Rephrased: she wasn't mad or upset...at me.

"Me. I'm the cause for all of this, I...I am the reason we were both kidnapped," I blurted out.

Naomi suddenly looked irate. She shook her head back and forth.

"You can't possible believe that," she said.

"Naomi, if I hadn't gone to London that weekend, we wouldn't even be here! We wouldn't be so fucked up and traumatized. We wouldn't be!" I shouted, letting all my feeling go in that once sentence.

Then a flood of emotion entered me again at my words. I caught my breath and hiccuped from the intensity of it all. Tears filled my eyes as they flew up to meet Naomi's in dread. The reaction on her face wasn't what I expected at all.

I had expected anger. Anger at me running, anger for me blaming myself, and anger for me basically saying I'd wish it all had never happened, even if it had brought me to her.

But when I looked up into her eyes, those hauntingly blue eyes, I only saw the same warmth that had cascaded me for weeks. Comforted me. Held me.

She stepped closer to me.

"I don't blame you, and I don't regret it," she said, her words firm.

"None of it?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"None of it, because I got something I never would have thought possible out of it."

"What's that?" I asked, sniffing.

"You, you knocker. Emily Fitch," Naomi said, smiling slightly. "Before this I was just floating through life. Dating random people, making out with even more randoms at clubs. Getting fucked up all the time, didn't have a focus in life. What I didn't realize was that I was so incredibly lonely. So, so lonely. Yes I had my few friends, but I've never quite had that comfort of someone in my life."

She took another step closed to me.

"Then all of this happened. Arguably the one of the worst thing that could happen in anybody's life, but it brought me to you. Being with you, going through this terrible thing with you showed me that I had the capacity to care for someone. That...that I had the capacity to love someone."

A shiver ran through my body.

"You love me?" I asked, shocked.

"I think I'm getting closer everyday," she said, with such sheer uncharacteristic honesty, it rocked my system.

My cheeks flushed, and my extremities grew warm.

Naomi was someone who had shown me my capacity to care. My capacity to connect. My capacity to love.

She didn't blame me.

She wasn't mad at me.

And she was only two feet in front of me.

My hands flew forward, wrapping themselves in the waist band of Naomi's jeans, pulling her into me.

Her mouth met mine instantly. All of this pent up emotion, aggression, sadness, happiness and all-around feeling was collapsing around us.

Our teeth were clashing, we were kissing so heavily. My finger nails dug into the sides of Naomi's sweatshirt. The fabric was far too thick for my liking.

Then I realized my thoughts had gone from A to Z to quickly.

I moved my hands to Naomi's stomach, pushing her away lightly. She pulled her head back and her lips were red and swollen, her eyes kept darting from my eyes to my own lips, confused.

"What?" she breathed out.

"We have to stop, or I won't be able too," I admitted.

"I don't want to," Naomi blurted out, shocking the both of us. Her already flushed face grew even redder as she stared. "I mean, I just, don't see a point in waiting."

"You don't?" I asked. I, strangely enough, did see a point. Well, sort of.

"Do you?" she asked, and found ourselves on different pages again.

"I don't know," I said, not really knowing where my head was. This entire day had been a mind fuck, of sorts. It was hard thinking straight.

"How about we see where it goes," Naomi said slowly, pulling me into her again. "I really, really just need to be close to you. I want to be close to you."

I understood what she meant by that too. While the statements had been easy, it had been clear they had opened up fresh wounds. Wounds that were long from being healed. Wounds that needed tending too. I could tell Naomi needed this. Just as much as I did.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I reached out for Naomi's wrist, pulling her with me and spinning us around. The back of her knees hit the bed. I gently lifted my arms and pushed her to sit on the bed.

She stared into my eyes as she reached out, slinking her pinkies into the belt loops of my jeans, pulling me close.

A dull throbbing completely consumed my concentration. It started in my stomach and traveled quickly south.

Naomi's fingers moved around to the front of my shirt, she carefully bunched up the bottom of my long sleeve sweater, holding the crumpled edges in her hands.

I let out a shaky breath and gripped tighter onto her shoulders. She slowly, almost painfully lifted my shirt, revealing my bare stomach. She leaned forward and pressed a warm kiss into the skin on one side of my belly button, then pressed another kiss on the other side.

I heard a flick, and realized she had unbuttoned my jeans. She leaned back and her eyes met mine again. I could see the fire in them. Fire from fear, fire from want and fire from desire.

I took my hands off her shoulders and pushed down my jeans, aware of Naomi's eyes trailing over my now bare legs. My eyes fell down onto the button of her own jeans. She unbuttoned her own and carefully wiggled out of them, keeping her sitting position on the bed.

I couldn't help but let my eyes drag up her legs. They were long, white and smooth.

"Eyes up here, Ems," Naomi laughed softly, breaking my staring contest. I was able to give her a wry smile before the tension filled the room right back up. The throbbing intensified. I wanted her lips, and I wanted her skin.

I did want this, this connection, even if I didn't think I wanted THIS yet.

I crouched down and got on my knees, sitting up straight so I was just below eye level with Naomi. She sucked in a deep breath, and grabbed my hands, wrapping them around her own waist.

I trailed my fingers down, and found the warm skin of her back under her sweatshirt. I slowly pulled the shirt off and carefully guided Naomi's head out of the top. She was wearing a plain black bra and striped underwear, but it suited her. Her body took my breath away. I knew she was long and I knew she was fit, but staring at her slightly quivering stomach, her bra-clad breasts, and her hip bones, sent my brain into a frenzy.

A hand wrapped around my neck, and her mouth was one mine again in seconds. I collapsed my weight onto her and we fell back into the bed.

I felt Naomi's long legs surround my hips as she quickly scooted us back onto the bed, hands snaking under the shirt I still had on.

Her tongue slid into my mouth and my hypothetical damn broke. I let out a quiet moan, as Naomi ran her fingernails down my back. I pressed my body into hers harder.

"Get this off," Naomi said, struggling a little with the cotton material of my sweater.

I shed it off in two seconds, pausing. Only two seconds, but it was long enough.

I was straddling one of her thighs. Our breathing was heavy. Bodies shaking.

Neither of us knew what we were doing. This was so wrong, yet so right. We wanted this so badly, but we weren't ready.

"This isn't right," I said, quietly. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable Campbell argument, but I didn't hear one. I only felt two fingers trail up my stomach, pausing just before my breast and trail back down. I opened my eyes to find Naomi staring intently at me. She was chewing on her bottom lip.

"My mind agrees, my body doesn't," she said. she adjusted her body, sending her thigh slightly higher into my center. Feeling rocketed up my body and I gasped.

I forced myself, with utter effort, to roll off of her body and onto the bed.

"You're right," Naomi said after a few minutes, as our breathing evened out. "But, today I felt disconnected from you for the first time. I had absolutely no idea what had gone through your head. It scared me. I'm sorry if I've pushed you."

"I've wanted to get you naked from the first time I saw you Campbell," I admitted, easily and honestly.

I watched her blush and couldn't help but smile. I rolled over back on top of her, feeling her breathing hitch as I pulled my body up, dragging the skin on our stomachs together, before pushing down and meeting her, eye to eye.

She wrapped her legs, almost instinctively, around the backs of my calves, pinning me to her. Her hands found my neck, and instantly covered the terrain, thumbs rubbing my jaw bones.

I leaned down and captured her lips in mine, breathing into her. Practically with her. Pulling away, I pushed my body further down into hers again.

I stared into her eyes and felt a twinge of emotion rake through the desire building up in my body.

I remember the first time I saw those blue eyes, staring at me through the dog cages we had been stuck in. Now, here we were, half-naked on a bed, convincing ourselves not to have sex.

Yet.

My throat tightened up, as I felt myself become overwrought with emotion. Fuck, this is arguably one of the worst times to cry. But staring into those blue eyes, I was reminded of the same feeling I had the first time I looked into them.

I was in some version of home.

"Can we just kiss?" Naomi asked, almost childishly. It caused my eyebrows to furor. She blushed again, and I think it can now be deemed one of the most adorable things I've ever seen on anybody. "Fucks sake that sounded stupid."

"I get it," I said, trailing a few kisses from her ear back to her mouth, capturing her bottom lip and sucking it into my mouth, feeling her own lips respond and ending in a searing kiss.

"I want," I said breaking the kiss, and kissing her cheek. "To feel you." I kissed her nose. "Even if it's just kissing." I kissed her other cheek.

Naomi's hands slid around my back and landed on my ass.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

I let out a shaky laugh, as I was caught between laughter and desire as she almost skillfully snuck her fingers around the fabric of my underwear, lightly touching the skin.

"It's more than alright," I said, planting a kiss on her lips again. Mostly because I could. Mostly because feeling her body against mine, her skin against mine, was becoming all consuming.

"Good, because i've wanted to do this for fucking ages," she said, and cutting off my lips with a hard kiss, quickly sliding her tongue into my mouth, squeezing my ass softly.

And I continued to melt into her. Connecting. Allowing her to kiss away my guilt. Allowing her to kiss me into a place where we hadn't been kidnapped for three months. A place where this was all there was.

A place close to home.


	27. Hello again!

Hello everybody,

First off, I'm very sorry this isn't a chapter. I'm not sure if anyone is still following this story…but I felt compelled to write something. It's been about a year and a half since I wrote this story and I came back to it and was shocked that it was still being read. I don't have an enormously valid excuse either. My job has me traveling a lot, then my computer broke and I lost everything. Not to mention, I forgot my password to this account and since the login information was on my old computer…I couldn't access it. I left it alone for quite a while (a year and a half exactly ;) ) then, due to a stroke of genius, realized my old old twitter I never used would remind me what email address I used. Bam. Access Granted.

That being said, I've spent the last few days happily re-reading this thing I put together and I found new motivation. I'm not promising anything soon, but I really really really dislike leaving things unfinished. There may be an ending creeping up here soon.

Anyways, hello! Thank you. I adore you all. I'll be back soon.

Bex


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